LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


THK  KAIL-SI'LITTEK 


FOOTPRINTS 


OF 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


PRESENTING 

Many  Interesting  Facts,  Reminiscences 

and  Illustrations  Never  Before 

Published 


BY 


J.  T.  HOBSON,  D.D.,  LL.B., 

Author  of  ''The  Lincoln  Year  Book." 


Nineteen  Hundred  and  Nine 

The  Otterbein  Press 

Dayton,  Ohio 


^6  Mlo^^ 


Copyright,  1909,  by  J.  T.  Hobson 


THE   AUTIIOIi. 


DEDICATION 


To  all  my  Kindred,  Friends,   and  Acquai?itances  among 

whom  are  Fellow  Ministers,    Teachers,   Stiidents, 

Pupils,   a?id  Parishioners,  though    Widely 

Scattered,  and  to  All  Who  Cherish 

the  Memory  of 

^lita^am  Eincoln 

The  Apostle  of  Human  Liberty,    Who  Bomid  the  Nation 

and   Unbound  the  Slave,    This  Little    Volwne 

is  Respectfjilly  Dedicated  by 

THE  AUTHOR 


INTRODUCTION 


Everything  pertaining  to  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
of  undying  interest  to  the  public. 

It  may  at  first  appear  unnecessary,  if  not  presumptuous, 
to  add  another  volume  to  the  already  large  number  of 
books  in  Lincoln  literature.  Hitherto  efforts  have  been 
made  by  the  biographer,  the  historian,  and  the  relic-hunter 
to  gather  everything  possible  connected  with  the  life  of 
Lincoln. 

If  an  apology  is  needed  in  presenting  this  volume  to  the 
public,  it  may  be  said  that  it  has  fallen  as  a  rare  oppor- 
tunity to  the  author,  during  the  passing  years,  to  gather 
some  well-authenticated  facts,  reminiscences,  and  illustra- 
tions which  have  never  before  appeared  in  connection  with 
the  history  of  this  great  man. 

Like  many  others,  I  have  always  taken  great  interest  in 
the  life  and  work  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  There  are  some 
special  reasons  for  this,  upon  my  part,  aside  from  my 
interest  in  the  lives  of  great  men,  and  the  magnetic  charm 
which  surrounds  the  name  and  fame  of  the  most  eminent 
American  and  emancipator  of  a  race. 

The  name,  "Abraham  Lincoln,"  is  connected  with  my 
family  history,  and  with  one  of  my  first  achievements  with 
pen  and  ink.  Because  of  an  affliction  in  early  life,  I  was, 
for  two  or  three  years,  unable  to  attend  the  public  schools. 
At  home  I  learned  to  make  figures  and  letters  with  slate 
and  pencil,  as  other  writing  material  was  not  so  common 
then  as  now.  The  first  line  I  ever  wrote  with  pen  and  ink 
was  at  home,  at  the  age  of  ten,  under  a  copy  on  foolscap 
paper,  written  by  my  sainted  mother,  "Abraham  Lincoln, 
President,  1861." 

After  the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist,  there  was  consider- 
able controversy  among  the  kinsfolk  as  to  what  name  he 
should  bear.     The  father,  old  Zacharias,  was  appealed  to, 


Introduction 

and  when  writing  material  was  brought  him,  he  settled 
the  matter  by  writing,  "John."  On  the  7th  of  May,  1863, 
when  a  boy  baby  was  born  in  our  old  home,  the  other 
children  and  I  were  very  anxicus  to  know  what  name 
would  be  given  the  little  stranger.  "We  appealed  to  father. 
He  did  not  say,  but  called  for  the  old  family  Bible,  pen 
and  ink.  He  turned  to  the  "Family  Record,"  between  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testaments.  I  stood  by  and  saw  him 
write,  with  pen  and  blue  ink,  the  name,  "Abraham  Lincoln 
Hobson." 

I  was  born  in  due  time  to  have  the  good  fortune  to 
become  acquainted  with  a  number  of  persons  who  person- 
ally knew  Mr.  Lincoln  in  his  early  life  in  Indiana,  and 
heard  them  tell  of  their  associations  with  him,  and  their 
words  were  written  down  at  the  time.  I  am  also  familiar 
with  many  places  cf  historic  interest  where  the  feet  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  pressed  the  earth.  I  resided  for  a  time 
near  the  old  Lincoln  farm  in  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  on 
which  the  town  of  Lincoln  City  now  stands.  I  have  often 
visited  the  near-by  grave  of  Nancy  Hanks  Lincoln,  the 
"angel  mother"  of  the  martyred  President;  have  stood  by 
the  grave  of  Sally  Grigsby,  his  only  sister,  at  the  Little 
Pigeon  Cemetery,  one  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  Lincoln 
farm;  have  been  in  the  Lincoln  home  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois; have  seen  Ford's  Theater  building,  in  Washington, 
where  he  was  shot;  have  stood  in  the  little  rear  room,  in 
the  first  story  of  the  house  across  the  street,  where  he 
died;  have  been  in  the  East  Room  of  the  White  House, 
where  his  body  lay  in  state;  and  have  reverently  stood  at 
his  tomb  where  his  precious  dust  rests  in  peace  in  Oak 
Ridge  Cemetery,  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 

This  volume  can  hardly  claim  the  dignity  of  a  biography, 
for  many  important  facts  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln  are 
omitted,  the  object  being  to  set  forth  some  unpublished 
facts,  reminiscences,  and  illustrations  to  supplement  larger 
histories  written  by  others.  However,  it  was  necessary  to 
refer  to  some  well-known  facts  in  order  to  properly  connect 
the  new  material  never  before  in  print.  It  v/as  necessary, 
in  some  instances,  to  correct  some  matters  of  Lincoln  his- 
tory which  later  and  more  authentic  information  has  re- 
vealed. 


Introduction 

The  illustrations  were  secured  mainly  for  this  publica- 
tion, and  none,  so  far  as  I  know,  except  the  frontispiece, 
has  ever  appeared  in  any  other  book  on  Lincoln.  I  am 
indebted  to  a  number  of  persons  who  have  assisted  me  in 
securing  information  and  photographs,  most  of  whom  are 
mentioned  in  the  body  of  the  book. 

This  being  the  centennial  year  of  Abraham  Lincoln's 
birth,  it  is  with  feelings  of  genuine  pleasure  and  profound 
reverence  that  the  opportunity  is  here  given  me  to  exhibit 
some  "footprints"  from  the  path  of  one  whose  life  is 
imprinted  in  imperishable  characters  in  the  history  of  the 
great  American  republic.  The  excellent  principles  and 
noble  conduct  that  characterized  his  life  should  be  an 
inspiration  to  all.     As  Longfellow  says: 

"Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us 
We  can  make  our  lives  sublime, 
And,  departing,  leave  behind  us 
Footprints  in  the  sands  of  time." 

J.    T.    HOBSON. 

Lake  City,  Iowa,  February  19,  1909. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Abraham  Lincoln. 

The  Author. 

Jacob  S.  Bi-other,  who  when  a  boy  lived  in  the  Kentucky 
Lincoln  cabin. 

United  Brethren  Church  on  Indiana  Lincoln  farm. 

Rev.  Allen  Brooner,  an  associate  of  Lincoln  in  Indiana. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Captain  Lamar,  who  knew  Lincoln  in  Indiana. 

Honorable  James  Gentry,  of  Indiana. 

Elizabeth  Grigsby,  one  of  the  double  wedding  brides  in 
Indiana. 

Ruth  Jennings  Huff,  daughter  of  Josiah  Crav/ford. 

Rifle  Gun  owned  jointly  by  Lincoln  and  Brooner  in  Indiana. 

David  Turnham,  the  Indiana  Constable,  and  wife. 

George  W.  Turnham,  son  of  David  Turnham. 

William  D.  Armstrong,  defended  by  Lincoln  in  1858. 

Hannah  Armstrong,  who  boarded  Lincoln;  he  later  de- 
fended her  son. 

"Walker  and  Lacey,  associated  with  Lincoln  in  the  Arm- 
strong case. 

Moses  Martin,  still  living,  signed  Lincoln's  temperance 
pledge  in  1847. 

Major  J.  B.  Merwin,  still  living,  campaigned  Illinois  with 
Lincoln  for  prohibition  in  1854-55. 

Rev.  R.  L.  McCord,  who  named  Lincoln  as  his  choice  for 
President,  in  1854. 

Site  of  the  old  still-house  in  Indiana,  where  Lincoln  worked. 

Triplets,  yet  living,  named  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 


CHRONOLOGY 


Born  in  Hardin   (now  Larue)   County,  Kentucky,  February 

12,  1809. 
Moved  to  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  in  1816. 
His  mother,  Nancy,  died  October  5,  1818,  aged  35  years. 
His  father  married  Sarah  Bush  Johnson,  1819. 
Moved  to  niinois,  March,  1830. 
Captain  in  Black  Hawk  Yv^ar,  in  1832. 
Appointed  postmaster  at  New  Salem,  Hlinois,  in  1833. 
Elected  to  Hlinois  Legislature  in  1834,  1836,  1838,  1840. 
Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1837. 
Presidential  elector  on  Whig  ticket,  1840,  1844. 
Married  to  Miss  Mary  Todd,  November  4,  1842. 
Elected  to  Congress  in  1846.  1848. 

His  father,  Thomas,  died  January  17,  1851,  aged  73  years. 
Canvassed  Hlinois  for  State  prohibition  in  1855. 
Debated  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  1858. 
Nominated  for  President  at  Chicago,  May  16,  1860. 
Elected  President,  November  6,  1860. 
Inaugurated  President,  March  4,  1861. 
Issued  call  for  75,000  volunteers,  April  15,  1861. 
Issued  Emancipation  Proclamation,  January  1,  1863. 
His    address    at    Gettysburg,    Pennsylvania,    November    19, 

18G3. 
Renomicated  for  President  at  Baltimore,  June,  1864. 
Reelected  President,  November  8,  1864. 
Reinaugurated  President,  March  4,  1865. 
Shot  by  John  Wilkes  Booth,  April  14,  1865. 
Died  April  15,  1865. 
Buried  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  May  3,  1865. 


8 


CONTENTS 


Dedication         -        .        . 3 

Introduction 4 

Illustrations 7 

Chronology  of  Abraham  Lincoln 8 

CHAPTER  I. 

Lincoln's  Bikth  axd  Early  Life  in  Kentucky. 

Unpromising  Cradles — Site  of  the  Log  Cabin — Tangled 
History  Untangled — Jacob  S.  Brother's  Statement — 
Speaking  with  Authority — The  Lincolns  Move  to  Knob 
Creek — "The  Lincoln  Farm  Association"    -        -        -     13 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indiana. 
Early  Hardships — "Milk  Sickness" — Death  of  Lincoln's 
Mother — Henry  and  Allen  Brooner's  Recollections — 
Seocnd  Marriage  of  Thomas  Lincoln— Marriage  of 
Sarah  Lincoln — Redmond  D.  Grigsby's  Recollec- 
tions— Death  of  Sarah  Grigsby — Mrs.  Lamar's  Rec- 
ollections— Captain  Lamar's  Interesting  Reminis- 
cences— Honorable  James  Gentry  Interviewed     -        -     17 

CHAPTER  III. 
Indiana  Associates  and  Incidents. 
The  Double  Wedding — One  of  the  Brides  Interviewed — 
"The  Chronicles  of  Reuben" — Josiah  Crawford's 
Daughter — The  Lincoln-Brooner  Rifle  Gun — David 
Turnham,  the  Indiana  Constable — The  "Revised 
Statutes  of  Indiana" 26 

9 


Contents 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Emigration  to  Illinois. 

Preparations  for  Removal — Recollections  of  Old  Ac- 
quaintances— The  Old  Indiana  Home — Blocks  from 
the  Old  House — The  Cedar  Tree — More  Tangled  His- 
tory Untangled — Mr.  Jones'  Store — Various  Experi- 
ences in  Illinois — Recollections  of  an  Old  Friend        -     32 

CHAPTER  V. 

Lincoln  Visits  the  Old  Indiana  Home. 

Lincoln  an  Admirer  of  Henry  Clay — A  Whig  Elector — 
Goes  to  Indiana — Makes  Speeches — Old  Friends  and 
Old-Time  Scenes — Writes  a  Poem         -        -        -        -     36 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case. 
Famous  Law  Cases — The  Clary  Grove  Boys — The 
Wrestling  Contest — Jack  and  Hannah  Armstrong — 
Trial  of  Their  Son  for  Murder — Lincoln's  Tact,  and 
the  Acquittal — Letters  from  the  Surviving  Attorney 
in  the  Case — More  Tangled  History  Untangled — 
Unpublished  Facts  Connected  with  Parties  in  the 
Case 39 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Lincoln's  Temperance  Principles. 
Promise  Made  to  His  Mother — Writes  a  Temperance 
Article  Before  Leaving  Indiana — Mr.  Wood  and  Mr. 
Farmer — Did  Lincoln  Sell  Whisky — His  Great  Tem- 
perance Address — Testimony  of  Associates — Moses 
Martin's  Letter — The  Internal  Revenue  Bill        -        -     51 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitionist. 

Major  J.  B.  Merwin  and  Abraham  Lincoln — They 
Together  Canvass  Illinois  for  State  Prohibition  in 
1854-55 — Lincoln's  Arguments  Against  the  Saloon — 
Facts    Omitted    by    Lincoln    Biographers — President 

10 


Contents 

Lincoln,  Generals  Scott  and  Butler  Recommend  Mer- 
win's  Temperance  Work  in  the  Army — The  President 
Sends  Merwin  on  a  Mission  to  New  York  the  Day  of 
the  Assassination — Proposition  for  Freedmen  to  Dig 
the  Panama  Canal — Lincoln's  Last  Words  to  Mer- 
win— Merwin's  Characteristic  Address  at  Lincoln's 
Tomb — "Lincoln  the  Christian  Statesman" — Merwin 
Living  at  Middlefield,  Connecticut        -        -        -        -     57 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question. 
An  Ancient  Institution — The  Evils  of  Slavery — Lincoln 
Always  Opposed  to  Slavery — Relic  of  "Cruel  Slavery 
Days" — Discussions,  Laws,  and  Compromises — The 
Missouri  Compromise — The  Fugitive  Slave  Law — The 
Kansas-Nebraska  Bill — Lincoln  Aroused — He  An- 
swers Douglas — R.  L.  McCord  Names  Lincoln  as  His 
Candidate  for  President — A  New  Political  Party — 
"Bleeding  Kansas" — The  Dred  Scott  Decision — "The 
Underground  Railroad"— The  John  Brown  Raid— The 
Approaching  Crisis 68 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debates. 
Candidates  for  the  United  States  Senate — Seven  Joint 
Debates — The  Paramount  Issue — The  "Divided 
House" — "Acts  of  a  Drama" — Douglas  Charged  Lin- 
coln with  Selling  Whisky — Lincoln's  Denial — A  Dis- 
covery— Site  of  the  Old  Still  House  in  Indiana — 
Douglas  Elected — Lincoln  the  Champion  of  Human 
Liberty 77 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Lincoln  Nominated  and  Elected  President. 

Rival  Candidates — Great  Enthusiasm — Lincoln's  Tem- 
perance Principles  Exemplified — Other  Nominations — 
A  Great  Campaign — Lincoln's  Letter  to  David  Turn- 
ham — Lincoln's  Election — Secession — Lincoln  Inaug- 
urated— Douglas       --------     83 

11 


Contents 

CHAPTER  XII. 
President  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War. 

The  Beginning — Personal  Recollections — The  War 
Spirit — Progress  of  the  War — The  Emancipation 
Proclamation — A  Fight  to  Finish — Lincoln's  Kind- 
ness— He  Relieves  a  Ycung  Soldier — He  Names 
Triplets  Who  Are  Yet  Living — His  Reelection — The 
Fall  of  Richmond — Appomattox — Close  of  the  Re- 
hellion        87 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Death  of  President  Lincoln. 
Personal  Recollections — The  Tragic  Event — Mr.  Stan- 
ton—A  Nation  in  Sorrow— The  Funeral — ^The  Inter- 
ment at  Springfield,  Illinois — The  House  in  Which 
President  Lincoln  Died — Changed  Conditions — The 
South  Honors  Lincoln — A  United  People — A  Rich 
Inheritance       -         .        -        - 93 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Unpublished  Official  Documents. 

A  Discovery — Documents  of  Historic  Value — Lincoln 
Owned  Land  in  Iowa — Copy  of  Letters  Patent  from 
United  States,  under  James  Buchanan,  to  Abraham 
Lincoln,  in  1860 — Copy  of  Deed  Executed  by  Honor- 
able Robert  T.  Lincoln  and  Wife,  in  1892 — Other 
Transfers — The  Present  Owner 100 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Celebration  of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of 
Lincoln's  Birth. 

Preparations — General  Observance — President  Roose- 
velt Lays  Corner-stone  of  Lincoln  Museum  at  Lin- 
coln's Birthplace — Extracts  from  Addresses  at  Various 
Places — Closing  Tribute 105 


12 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 


CHAPTER  I. 
Lincoln's  Birth  and  Early  Life  in  Kentucky 

UnpromisinsT  Cradles — Site  of  the  Ix)g  Cabin — Tangled  History 
Untangled — Jacob  S.  Brother's  Statement — Spealving  with 
Authority — The  Lincolns  Move  to  Knob  Creek — The  Lincoln 
Farm  Association. 

It  has  been  said  truly  that  God  selects  unpromising 
cradles  for  his  greatest  and  best  servants.  On  a  cold 
winter  night,  a  hundred  years  ago,  in  a  floorless  log 
cabin,  the  emancipator  of  a  race  was  born.  Like  the 
Eedeemer  of  mankind,  there  was  "no  room"  in  the 
mansions  of  the  rich  and  the  great  for  such  a  child  to 
be  born. 

Thomas  Lincoln  and  Nancy  Hanks,  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia, were  married  by  Eev.  Jesse  Head,  a  minister  of 
the  Methodist  Church,  June  12,  1806,  near  Beechland, 
Washington  County,  Kentucky.  They  settled  at  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Hardin  County,  where  their  tirst  child,  Sarah, 
was  bom,  February  10,  1807.  In  1808  they  moved  to 
a  farm  containing  one  hundred  and  ten  acres,  on  the 
south  fork  of  Nolin  Creek,  two  miles  south  of  Hodgen- 
ville,  Hardin  County,  and  fifty  miles  south  of  Louisville. 
Hodgenville  afterward  became,  and  is  now  the  county- 
seat  of  Larue  County,  as  that  part  of  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  Larue  County  was  set  off  from  Hardin 
County  in  1843.  Here,  on  the  twelfth  of  February, 
1809,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born. 

13    - 


Footprints  of  AhraJiam  Lincoln 

The  Hodgenville  and  Magnolia  public  highway  runs 
through  the  farm.  The  site  of  the  old  log  cabin  in 
which  Lincoln  was  born  is  about  five  hundred  yards 
west  of  the  road,  and  a  short  distance  from  the  well- 
known  "Rock  Spring."  The  old  Kirkpatrick  mill,  on 
Nolin  Creek,  is  but  a  short  distance  away.  The  cabin, 
of  course,  is  no  longer  in  existence,  although  various 
publications  have  printed  pictures  of  it,  as  though  it 
were  still  standing  on  the  original  spot.  Misleading 
statements  have  also  been  published  that  the  original 
cabin  has  been  placed  on  exhibition  in  various  cities. 
Other  publications,  with  more  caution,  have  pictured 
it  as  the  alleged  log  cabin  in  which  Lincoln  was  born. 

Evidence  is  here  introduced  to  untangle  tangled  his- 
tory. Jacob  S.  Brother,  now  in  his  ninetieth  year, 
resides  at  Eoekport,  the  county-seat  of  Spencer  County, 
Indiana,  on  the  Ohio  River,  fifteen  miles  south  of 
Lincoln  City,  the  site  of  the  Lincoln  farm  in  Indiana. 
Mr.  Brother  is  a  highly-respected  Christian  gentleman. 
I  have  known  him  for  many  years.  On  the  thirtieth 
of  March,  1899,  when  visiting  him,  he  incidentally  told 
me  that  his  father  purchased  the  Lincoln  farm  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  that  the  family  lived  in  the  cabin  in  wliich 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  born.  On  the  eighth  of  Septem- 
ber, 1903,  I  again  visited  him,  and,  at  my  request,  he 
gave  a  fuller  statement,  which  I  wrote  out,  and  then 
read  it  to  him,  all  of  w^hich  he  said  was  correct,  and  is 
here  submitted: 

"My  name  is  Jacob  S.  Brother.  My  father's  name  was 
Henry,  but  he  was  generally  known  as  'Harry.'  I  was  born 
in  Montgomery  County,  Kentucky,  March  8,  1819.  In  the 
year  1827,  when  I  was  eight  years  old,  my  father  pur- 
chased the  old  farm  on  which  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born, 

14 


Lincoln  s  Birth  and  Early  Life 

in  Kentucky.  He  purchased  it  of  Henry  Thomas.  We 
lived  in  the  house  in  which  Lincoln  was  born.  After  some 
years,  my  father  built  another  house  almost  like  the  first 
house.  The  old  house  was  torn  down,  and,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, the  logs  were  burned  for  flre-wood.  Later  he  built  a 
hewed  log  house,  and  the  second  old  house  was  used  as  a 
hatter-shop.  My  father  followed  the  trade  of  making  hats 
all  his  life.  The  pictures  we  often  see  of  the  house  in 
which  Lincoln  was  born  are  pictures  of  the  first  house 
built  by  my  father.  He  died  in  the  hewed  log  house,  and 
my  youngest  brother,  Joseph,  was  born  in  the  same  house 
three  weeks  after  father's  death.  Some  time  after  father's 
death,  mother,  I,  and  the  other  children  moved  to  near 
St.  Joe,  Missouri.  The  brother  born  on  the  Lincoln  farm 
enlisted  in  the  Southern  army,  and  was  captured  at  Look- 
out Mountain,  and  taken  to  Camp  Morton,  Indianapolis, 
as  a  prisoner.  My  oldest  brother,  George,  who  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  Union  army,  went  to  Washington  City  to 
see  President  Lincoln,  in  order  to  get  a  reprieve  for  his 
brother.  Among  other  things,  he  told  the  President  that 
his  brother  and  he  (the  President)  were  born  on  the  same 
farm.  I  do  not  know  how  much  weight  this  had  with  the 
President,  but  my  brother  was  reprieved.  I  left  Missouri 
to  avoid  going  into  the  Confederate  army,  and  came  to 
Rockport,  Indiana,  in  1863,  where  I  have  ever  since 
resided." 

At  the  time  of  this  interview,  I  had  with  me  some 
newspa}>er  and  magazine  articles,  with  illustrations, 
descriptive  of  the  old  Lincoln  farm  in  Kentucky,  includ- 
ing the  "Rock  Spring,"  Nolin  Creek,  the  old  water- 
mill,  Hodgenville,  and  other  places,  which  were  read 
and  shown  the  old  gentleman.  He  was  perfectly  famil- 
iar with  all  the  points  named,  and  mentioned  a  number 
of  other  items.  When  the  name  of  the  creek,  near  the 
farm,  was  pronounced  with  the  accent  on  the  first 
syllable,  he  said,  "We  always  pronounced  it  ISTo-lin'" 
(with  the  accent  on  the  second  syllable).     All  these 

15 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

statements  are  entitled  to  credit,  as  there  could  have 
been  no  object  in  making  any  false  representations. 

When  Abraham  was  about  four  years  old  the  Lincolns 
moved  from  the  Rock  Spring  farm  to  a  farm  on  Knob 
Creek,  in  the  eastern  part  of  what  is  now  Larue  County. 
Here  a  little  boy,  younger  than  Abraham,  was  buried. 

Of  late  years  considerable  interest  has  been  given  to 
Lincoln's  birthplace.  "The  Lincoln  Farm  Association" 
has  been  organized  and  incorporated,  and  the  farm  pur- 
chased by  a  group  of  patriotic  citizens  who  believe  that 
the  people  of  our  country  should,  through  affiliating 
with  the  organization,  develop  the  farm  into  a  national 
park,  embellished  by  an  historical  museum.  Mrs.  Russell 
Sage  has  contributed  $25,000  for  this  puqoose,  and 
others  are  contril)uting.  It  is  hoped  that  this  most 
worthy  enterprise  may  be  successful,  and  thus  further 
honor  the  immortal  emancipator,  and  that  the  place  will 
be  dedicated  to  peace  and  good  will  to  all,  where  North, 
South,  East,  and  West  may  find  a  common  ground  of 
pride  and  fellowship. 


10 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


CHAPTER  II. 
The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indiana 

Harly  Hardships— "Milk  Sicliness" — Death  of  Lincoln's  Mother — 
Henry  and  Allen  Brooner's  Recollections — Second  Marriage  of 
Thomas  Lincoln — Marriage  of  Sarah  Lincoln — Redmond  P. 
Grlgsby's  Recollections — Death  of  Sarah  Grigsby — Mra.  Lamar's 
Recollections — Captain  Lamar's  Interesting  Reminiscences- 
Honorable  James  Gentry  Interviewed. 

Thomas  Lincoln  moved  with  his  family  to  southern 
Indiana  in  the  fall  of  1816.  There  were  two  children, 
Sarah  and  Abraham,  the  former  nine,  and  the  latter 
seven  years  old.  The  family  located  in  what  was  then 
Perry  Connty.  By  a  change  in  boundary  made  in  1818, 
that  part  of  the  county  was  made  a  part  of  the  new 
county  of  Spencer.  The  location  was  one  mile  and  a 
half  east  of  where  Gentryville  now  stands,  and  fifteen 
miles  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  town  of  Lincoln 
City  is  now  located  on  the  farm,  and  is  quite  a  railroad 
connecting  point.  Here  the  family  lived  fourteen  years. 
The  county  was  new,  and  the  land  was  not  of  the  best 
quality.  The  family  was  subject  to  the  toils  and  priva- 
tions incident  to  pioneer  life.  Lincoln,  long  afterward, 
in  referring  to  his  early  days  in  Indiana,  said  they  were 
"pretty  pinching  times." 

Peter  Brooner  came  with  his  family  to  the  same 
community  two  years  before,  and  Thomas  and  Betsy 
Sparrow,  who  reared  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  her  cousin, 
Dennis  Hanks,  came  one  year  lat«r  than  the  Lincolns. 

A  peculiar  disease,  called  "the  milk  sickness,"  pre- 
vailed in  the  community  in  1818.     Thomas  and  Betsy 

17 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Sparrow,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Mrs.  Brooner,  and  others  died 
of  this  disease  near  the  same  time.  Thomas  Lincoln, 
having  learned  the  carpenter  and  cabinet-maker's  trade 
in  Kentucky,  made  all  their  coffins  from  green  lumber 
sawed  with  a  whip-saw.  Their  bodies  were  laid  to  rest 
on  the  little  hill  a  few  hundred  yards  south  of  the 
Jjincoln  home. 

Peter  Brooner  had  two  sons,  Henry  and  Allen.  1 
became  acquainted  \vith  these  brothers  twenty-two  years 
ago.  I  was  pastor  of  a  church  at  Dale,  three  miles 
from  Lincoln  City,  two  years,  nea.r  where  Allen  lived, 
and  of  a  coimtry  church  near  where  Henry  lived.  T 
was  frequently  at  their  homes.  They  both  knew  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  quite  well.  The  Thomas  Lincoln  and 
Peter  Brooner  homes  were  only  one-half  mile  apart. 
Heniy  was  five  years  older,  and  Allen  was  four  years 
younger  than  Abraham.  "Uncle  Henry,"  as  he  was 
always  called,  gave  me  the  following  items,  which  1 
wrote  at  the  time,  and  have  preserved  the  original 
notes : 

"I  was  born  in  Breckenridge  County,  Kentucky,  Feb- 
ruary 7,  1804.  We  came  to  Indiana  in  1814,  when  Allen 
was  one  year  old.  No  man  has  lived  longer  in  the  State 
than  I  have,  for  I  have  lived  in  it  ever  since  it  became  a 
State,  and  before.  The  Lincoln  family  came  to  Indiana 
two  years  later,  and  we  lived  one-half  mile  apart.  During 
my  mother's  last  sickness,  Mrs.  Lincoln  often  came  to  see 
her,  and  died  just  one  week  after  my  mother's  death.  I 
remember  very  distinctly  that  when  Mrs.  Lincoln's  grave 
was  filled,  my  father,  Peter  Brooner,  extended  his  hand  to 
Thomas  Lincoln  and  said,  'We  are  brothers,  now,'  meaning 
that  they  were  brothers  in  the  same  kind  of  sorrow.  The 
bodies  of  my  mother  and  Mrs.  Lincoln  were  conveyed  to 
their  graves  on  sleds.  I  often  stayed  all  night  at  Thomas 
Lincoln's.     Dennis  Hanks  and  his  sister  Sophia  lived  with 

18 


The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indiana 

Thomas  and  Betsy  Sparrow,  and  at  their  deaths  Dennis  and 
his  sister  heired  the  estate.  I  helped  drive  up  the  stock 
on  the  day  of  the  sale  of  the  property.  Dennis  Hanks 
married  Lincoln's  step-sister.  I  often  went  with  Lincoln 
on  horseback  to  Huffman's  Mill,  on  Anderson  Creek,  a 
distance  of  sixteen  miles.  He  had  a  great  memory,  and 
for  hours  he  would  tell  me  what  he  had  read." 

Henry  Brooner  died  April  4,  1890,  twO'  years  after 
the  above  statements  were  given,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
six.  Everybody  loved  and  respected  "Uncle  Henry." 
Reference  will  be  made  in  another  chapter  to  further 
statements  made  by  him  on  the  same  occasion. 

Allen  Brooner  was  nine  years  younger  than  his 
brother  Henry.  He  was  born  in  Kentucky,  October  23, 
1813.  He  was  a  minister  in  the  United  Brethren 
Church  more  than  fifty  years.  Among  other  items,  he 
gave  me  the  following,  which  were  written  at  the  time : 

"During  my  mother's  last  sickness,  Mrs.  Lincoln,  the 
mother  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  came  to  see  her.  Mother  said, 
'1  believe  I  will  have  to  die.'  Mrs.  Lincoln  said,  'Oh,  you 
may  outlive  me.'  She  died  just  one  week  from  the  death 
of  my  mother.  This  was  in  October,  1818.  I  was  five  years 
old  when  mother  died.  I  remember  some  one  came  to  me 
in  the  night  and  told  me  my  mother  was  dead.  Thomas 
Lincoln  made  mother's  coffin,  and  sawed  the  lumber  with 
a  whip-saw  to  make  the  coffin.  She  was  taken  on  a  sled  to 
the  graveyard  on  a  hill,  one  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of 
where  Lincoln  City  now  stands.  Old  man  Howell  took 
the  corpse.  He  rode  the  horse  hitched  to  the  sled,  and 
took  me  up,  and  I  rode  on  the  horse  before  him.  I  remem- 
ber that  his  long  beard  bothered  me.  We  did  not  have 
wagons  in  those  days.  The  first  wagon  I  ever  saw,  my 
father  made,  and  it  had  wooden  tires." 

Reference  will  be  made  again  to  some  facts  stated  by 
this  associate  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  "Uncle  Allen"  died 
at  his  old  home,  near  Dale,  Spencer  County,  Indiana, 

19 


Footprints  of  AbraJiam  Lincoln 

April  2,  1902,  in  liis  eighty-ninth  year,  respected  by  all. 
I  am  indebted  to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Sarah  Knowlton, 
for  his  photograph,  taken  at  seventj^-five  years  of  age. 

jS'ancy  Hanks  Lincoln  died  October  5,  1818,  when 
her  daughter  Sarah  was  eleven  and  her  son  Abraham 
was  nine  years  old.  Abraham's  motlier  had  taught 
him  to  read  and  write,  and,  young  as  he  was,  he  wrote 
for  an  old  minister,  David  Elkin,  whom  the  family  had 
known  in  Kentucky,  to  come  and  preach  his  mother's 
funeral.  Some  time  after,  the  minister  came  and  the 
funeral  was  preached  at  the  grave  where  many  people 
had  gathered.  The  minister  stated  that  he  had  come 
because  of  the  letter  he  had  received  from  the  little  son 
of  the  dead  mother.  As  I  have  stood  by  that  grave,  in 
my  imagination  I  have  seen  that  primitive  congrega- 
tion— the  old  minister,  the  lonely  husband,  and  the  two 
motherless  children,  Sarah  and  Abraham,  on  tliat  sad 
occasion. 

After  the  death  of  Thomas  and  Betsy  Sparrow, 
Dennis  Hanks  and  his  sister  Sophia  became  inmates  of 
the  Lincoln  home. 

For  many  years  Mrs.  Lincoln's  grave  was  neglected. 
But  few  persons  were  buried  at  that  graveyard.  In 
1879,  Mr.  P.  E.  Studebakcr,  of  South  Bend,  Indiana, 
erected  a  marble  slab  at  the  grave,  and  some  of  the 
citizens  of  Rockport  enclosed  it  with  an  iron  railing. 
Later  a  larger  and  more  appropriate  monument  has 
also  been  placed  at  the  grave,  and  several  acres  sur- 
rounding, forming  a  park,  have  been  enclosed  with  an 
iron  fence.  The  park  is  under  the  control  of  an  asso- 
ciation which  has  been  incorporated. 

In  December,  1819,  Thomas  Lincoln  went  to  Ken- 
tucky  and   married   a   widow,    Sarah    Bush    Johnston, 

20 


The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indiana 

whom  he  had  known  there  before  coming  to  Indiana. 
She  had  tliree  children,  Jolm,  Matilda,  and  Sarah.  She 
was  a  most  excellent  woman,  and  proved  worth}-  of  a 
niothei''s  place  in  the  home  of  Thomas  Lincoln.  Dennis 
flanks  mairied  one  of  the  daughters,  and  Levi  Hall 
married  the  other. 

In  August,  1826,  at  tlie  age  of  nineteen,  Sarah 
Lincoln,  or  Sally,  as  she  wa.s  commonly  called,  was 
married  to  Aaron  Grigsby,  the  oldest  of  a  large  family 
of  boys.  Ijearning  that  Eedmond  D.  Grigsby  resided 
near  Chnsney,  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  I  called  upon 
him  October  18,  1898.  After  being  introduced  by  a 
friend,  I  asked  him,  "What  relation  were  you  to  Aaron 
(Jrigsby,  who  maiTied  Abraham  Lincoln's  sister?"  "He 
was  my  oldej^t  brother,  sir,"  answered  the  old  gentle- 
man. He  said  he  was  born  in  1818,  and  was  at  that 
time  eighty  years  old.  He  said  that  he  and  Lincoln 
were  often  thrown  together,  he  at  the  home  of  his 
brother  and  Lincoln  at  the  home  of  his  sister.  Mr. 
(Jrigsby  said  that  when  Abraham  would  start  off  with 
other  boys,  he  had  often  heard- Sally  admonish  him  as 
to  his  conduct.  Then  Abraham  would  say,  "Oh,  you  be 
good  yourself,  Sally,  and  Abe  Avill  take  care  of  him- 
self." We  shall  have  occasion  to  refer  to  Mr.  Grigsby 
again.  He  still  resides  at  Chris^ney;  is  now  ninety  years 
of  age  and  quite  feeble. 

Sally  Grigsby  died  in  childbirth  Januarj^  20,  1828, 
less  thsm  two  years  after  her  marriage.  Her  body  sleeps 
in  the  old  Pigeon  Crwk  Cemetery,  one  mile  and  a  half 
south  of  whei-e  her  mother  is  buried. 

Mrs.  Lamar,  the  wife  of  Captain  Lamar,  who  resided 
at  Buffaloville,  a  short  distance  east  of  Lincoln  City, 
said  to  me,  in  her  home,  September  8,  1903 : 

21 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

"I  remember  old  Tommy  Lincoln.  I  sat  on  his  lap  many 
times.  I  was  at  Sally  Lincoln's  infare  dinner.  I  remember 
the  night  she  died.  My  mother  was  there  at  the  time. 
She  had  a  very  strong  voice,  and  I  heard  her  calling  father. 
He  awoke  the  boys  and  said,  'Something  is  the  matter.' 
He  went  after  a  doctor,  but  it  was  too  late.  They  let  her 
lay  too  long.     My  old  aunt  was  the  midwife." 

Mrs.  Lamar  is  still  living-  in  Spencer  County,  Indi- 
ana. At  the  same  time,  I  interviewed  Captain  JoIut 
W.  Lamar.  I  copied  the  date  of  his  birth  from  the 
record  in  his  Bible.  He  was  born  December  9,  1832, 
and  although  but  a  small  boy  when  the  Lincolns 
removed  to  Illinois,  he  rememl^ers  Abraham  Lincoln 
quite  well.  At  the  time  of  my  internew,  I  had  a  clip- 
ping from  the  Indiana|>olis  News  of  April  12,  1902, 
containing  some  items  pertaining  to  his  recollections 
of  Lincoln,  which  were  read  to  him.  The  clipping  is 
as  follows : 

"Captain  J.  W.  Lamar,  of  Buffaloville,  Spencer  County, 
a  delegate  to  the  Republican  State  Convention,  knew  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  when  the  latter  lived  in  Spencer  County.  He 
is  past  eighty  years  old,  but  his  memory  is  keen,  and  he 
is  unusually  vigorous  for  a  man  of  his  age.  He  is  six  feet 
tall,  broad-shouldered,  with  flowing  white  hair  and  beard, 
making  him  one  of  the  picturesque  figures  of  the  conven- 
tion crowd.  Lincoln  is  his  favorite  theme,  and  he  delights 
to  talk  of  him. 

"  'I  well  remember  the  first  time  I  saw  Abe,'  he  said. 
'My  father  took  me  to  Troy,  at  the  mouth  of  Anderson 
River,  to  do  a  little  trading,  and  Lincoln  was  at  that  time 
working  at  the  ferry.  Dressed  in  the  frontiersman's  coon- 
skin  cap,  deerskin  shirt,  and  home-made  trousers,  he  was 
indelibly  impressed  upon  my  memory  as  being  one  of  the 
gawkiest  and  most  awkward  figures  I  ever  saw.  From  that 
time  on  I  saw  him  very  often,  as  he  lived  near,  and  worked 
for  my  father  frequently.  He  and  my  father  and  his 
father  all   helped  to  build   the  old   Pigeon   meeting-house, 

22 


The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indiana 

near  which  Abe's  only  sister,  Sally,  was  buried.  Tom 
Lincoln,  Abe's  father,  often  did  odd  jobs  of  carpentering 
for  us. 

'•  "One  day,  about  a  year  after  I  first  saw  Lincoln,  my 
father  and  I  went  over  to  old  Jimmy  Gentry's  store,  where 
the  town  of  Gentryville  now  stands.  When  we  got  there, 
I  noticed  Lincoln  out  by  an  old  stump,  working  very  indus- 
triously at  something.  On  going  nearer,  I  saw  that  he  was 
figuring  or  writing  on  a  clapboard,  which  he  had  shaved 
smooth,  and  was  paying  no  attention  to  what  was  going  on 
around  him.  My  father  remarked  to  me  then  that  Abe 
would  be  somebody  some  day,  but,  of  course,  did  not  have 
any  idea  how  true  his  words  would  come  out. 

"  'Many  times  have  I  seen  him  studying  at  odd  moments, 
with  a  book  or  something  to  write  on,  when  others  were 
having  a  good  time.    That  was  what  made  him  so  great. 

"  'In  August,  before  the  spring  that  the  Lincoln's  left  for 
Illinois,  a  township  election  was  held  at  a  log  house  near 
where  the  town  of  Santa  Fe  now  stands.  ...  All  the  men 
in  the  neighborhood  were  gathered  there,  and  conspicuous 
among  them  was  one,  Sampson,  a  braggart  and  bully.  He 
was  storming  around,  praising  a  horse  he  had. 

"  '  "Why,"  said  he,  "I  ran  him  four  miles  in  five  minutes 
this  morning,  and  he  never  drew  a  long  breath!" 

"  'Abe,  who  was  sitting  on  a  rail  fence  near  me,  remarked 
quietly  to  him,  "I  suppose,  though.  Mr.  Sampson,  he  drew 
a  good  many  short  ones." 

"  'This  was  just  the  opening  Sampson  was  looking  for, 
so  he  began  to  bluster  up  to  Lincoln.  After  standing  abuse 
for  a  few  minutes,  Abe  told  him  to  hush  up  or  he  would 
take  him  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  throw  him  over  the 
fence.  (At  this  point  the  old  captain  interrupted  my  read- 
ing, and  said,  "Lincoln  did  not  say  he  would  throw  him 
over  the  fence,  but  said  he  would  throw  him  into  a  pond  of 
water  near  by."]  This  had  an  effect,  and  Sampson  shut 
up,  because  he  knew  Abe  could,  and  would  do  what  he  said. 

"  'My  father's  house  was  on  the  road  between  Gentryville 
and  the  nearest  trading-point  on  the  Ohio  River,  at  Troy. 
To  this  place  the  settlers  took  their  deer  and  bear  hides, 
venison   hams,   and   other  game,   for   which   they   received 

23 


Footprints  of  AhraJiam  Lincoln 

clothes,  powder,  and  other  necessary  articles.  Lincoln  and 
his  father  had  constructed  a  wagon  for  old  man  Gentry, 
made  entirely  out  of  wood,  even  to  the  hickory  rims  to  the 
wheels. 

"  'This  they  loaded  with  produce,  and  started  for  Troy. 
Arriving  at  my  father's  house,  a  rain  had  swollen  the 
creek  near  there,  so  that  they  decided  to  stay  all  night, 
and  wait  for  the  water  to  subside.  During  the  night  wolves 
stole  nearly  all  the  venison  from  the  wagon.  That  which 
belonged  to  the  Lincolns  was  not  touched,  however;  it  was 
in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon.  My  father  was  a  very  serious 
man,  and  scarcely  ever  smiled,  but  Abe,  with  his  droll 
ways  and  pleasant  humor,  always  made  him  laugh. 

"  'A  great  grief,  which  affected  Abe  through  his  life,  was 
caused  by  the  death  of  his  only  sister,  Sally.  They  were 
close  companions,  and  were  a  great  deal  alike  in  tempera- 
ment. About  a  year  after  her  marriage  to  one  of  the 
Grigsbys,  she  died.  This  was  a  hard  blow  to  Abe,  who 
always  thought  her  death  was  due  to  neglect.  Abe  was 
in  a  little  smoke-house  when  the  news  came  to  him  that 
she  had  died.  He  came  to  the  door  and  sat  dov/n,  burying 
his  face  in  his  hands.  The  tears  trickled  through  his  large 
fingers,  and  sobs  shook  his  frame.  From  then  on  he  was 
alone  in  the  world,  you  might  say.'  " 

In  addition  to  tlio  foregoing  interesting  reminiscences, 
the  captain  related  to  me  other  important  items,  some 
of  which  are  here  given  as  he  related  them: 

"Old  Si  Crawford,  the  man  who  loaned  Lincoln  the  book 
which  was  damaged,  was  my  uncle.  I  remember  one  time 
Lincoln  came  to  our  place  when  my  father  was  sitting  on 
a  shaving-horse,  doing  some  work.  Other  boys  and  I  were 
standing  near  by.  Mr.  Lincoln,  addressing  us,  said,  'Well, 
boys,  what  have  you  learned  to-day?'  No  one  answering, 
he  said,  'I  wouldn't  give  a  cent  for  a  boy  who  doesn't  know 
more  to-day  than  he  knew  yesterday.'  This  remark  greatly 
impressed  me,  and  1  have  never  forgotten  it. 

"Old  Uncle  Jimmy  Gentry,  who  founded  the  town  of 
Gentryville,   kept  a  store  there.     He  was  somewhat  illit- 

24 


The  Lincolns  Move  to  Indimm 


erate.  I  remember  hearing  him  and  Major  Daniels  talking, 
when  the  major  asked  him  what  per  cent,  he  was  making 
on  the  sale  of  his  goods.  Uncle  Jimmy  replied,  'God  bless 
your  soul,  I  don't  know  anything  about  your  per  cent.,  but 
I  know  when  I  buy  an  article  in  Louisville  for  a  dollar, 
and  sell  it  in  Gentryville  for  two  dollars,  I  d<mble  my 
money  every  time.'  " 

Captain  Lamar  died  Xovembor  4,  1903,  a  little  more 
than  two  months  after  my  visit  to  him,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-one,  Mrs.  Lamar  is  still  living  in  Spencer 
County. 

The  same  day,  after  leaving  the  Lamars,  I  called 
npon  the  Honorable  James  Gentry,  at  Rockport.  He 
was  the  son  of  James  Gentry,  the  founder  of  Gentry- 
ville. Ho  was  born  February  24,  1819,  and  was  ten 
vears  younger  than  Lincoln.  He  related  much  about 
Lincoln,  some  things  which  will  l)e  found  in  another 
chapter.  He  repeated  the  story  about  his  brother,  Allen 
Gentry,  and  Lincoln  taking  a  flatboat,  loaded  with  farm 
products,  down  the  Ohio  Kiver  to  Xew  Orleans,  the 
attack  of  the  negroes  and  how  they  were  driven  away. 
Mr.  Gently  said,  "If  ever  a  man  was  raised  up  by 
Providence,  it  was  Lincoln,  for  he  had  no  chance."  Mr. 
(i  entry  was  elected  on  the  Democratic  ticket  to  the 
Indiana  legislature  of  1871.  He  gave  me  his  picture, 
reproduced  herein,  but  it  represents  him  much  younger 
than  when  I  saw  him.  He  died  May  3,  1905,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six. 


CHAPTER  III. 
Indiana  Associates  and  Incidents 

The     Double     Wedding — One     of     the     Brides     Interviewed — 'The 
Chronicles     of     Reuben" — Josiab     Crawford's     Daughter — -The 
Ijincoln-Brooner     Rifle     Gun — David     Turnham,     the     Indiana ' 
Constable — The  "Revised  Statutes  of  Indiana." 

Eeuben  Grigsby  had  quite  a  family  of  sons.  Aaron, 
the  oldest,  who  married  Lincoln's  sister,  and  Redmond 
J3.,  the  youngest,  have  already  been  mentioned.  Two 
sons,  Reuben  and  Charles,  were  married  the  same  day, 
the  former  married  in  Spencer  County  and  the  latter 
in  Dubois,  the  adjoining  county  on  the  north.  A  double 
infare  dinner  was  given  at  old  Reuben  Grigsby's,  the 
day  following  the  marriages.  The  Grigsbys  were 
regarded  as  Ijelonging  to  the  "upper  ten"  class  in  those 
days,  for  tliey  lived  in  a  two-story  hewed-log  house. 

On  the  sixth  of  April,  1899,  I  met  Elizabeth  Grigsby, 
commonly  called  "Aunt  Betsy,"  one  of  the  brides,  the 
widow  of  Reulx'n,  Jr.,  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Justin  Banks,  near  Grandview,  S}x?ncer  County.  She 
was  in  her  eighty-seventh  year.  She  was  cheerful,  and 
bright  in  her  mind,  and  had  a  good  knowledge  of  cur- 
rent events.  I  requested  her  to  give  me  a  sketch  of  her 
life,  and  stated  that  it  might  prove  useful  and  interest- 
ing as  a  matter  of  histor}\  She  thought  that,  perhaps, 
what  I  said  might  be  true,  and  cheerfully  gave  the  fol- 
lowing : 


n 


"My  father,  Ezekiel  Ray,  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  came 
to  America  at  the  age  of  three  years,  and  his  father  settled 
in  Tennessee.     My  father  and  a  number  of  others,  among 

26 


Indiana,  Associates  and  Incidetits 

them  Mr.  Grass  and  Mr.  Lamar,  came  to  Indiana,  and  set- 
tled where  Grandview  now  stands.  My  father  died  when 
I  was  five  years  old.  I  had  one  sister  and  five  brothers. 
I  was  next  to  the  youngest  child.  My  mother  remained  a 
widow,  and  died  twelve  years  after  the  death  of  my  father. 
I  had  sixty  acres  of  land  left  to  me,  my  part  of  father's 
estate. 

"I  was  married  to  Reuben  Gi'igsby  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1829,  before  my  seventeenth  birthday,  which  was  June  1, 
following.  Charles,  my  husband's  brother,  was  married 
the  same  day.  We  had  infare  dinner  at  the  home  of  my 
husband's  father,  Reuben  Grigsby,  three  miles  south  cf 
G^ntryville.  My  husband  and  I  arrived  about  two  hours 
before  the  other  couple  arrived.  John  Johnston,  Abraham 
Lincoln's  step-brother,  told  a  story  about  a  mistake  made 
by  the  brothers  in  going  to  bed  upstairs  that  night,  which 
led  to  a  fight  between  himself  and  William  Grigsby,  a 
brother  of  the  two  who  were  married.  This  story  told  by 
John  Johnston  occasioned  the  writing  of  'The  Chronicles 
of  Reuben,'  by  Abraham  Lincoln,  a  short  time  afterward. 
I  saw  Lincoln  at  my  fathei'-in-law's  two  days  after  our 
marriage.     He  was  not  a  good  looking  young  man. 

"Sally  Lincoln,  Abraham's  only  sister,  married  Aaron 
Grigsby,  my  husband's  oldest  brother,  but  that  was  before 
my  marriage.  I  never  saw  her,  for  she  died  about  three 
years  after  her  marriage.  I  have  seen  Thomas  Lincoln, 
but  was  not  acquainted  with  him.  My  husband  and  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  attended  the  same  school.  My  husband  never 
had  a  sister  that  he  thought  more  of  than  he  did  of  Sally 
Lincoln. 

"After  our  marriage  on  Thursday,  we  moved  to  my  place, 
where  Grandview  now  is.  I  have  been  a  member  of  the 
United  Brethren  Church  about  forty-five  years.  My  hus- 
band joined  the  church  about  eight  years  before  I  joined. 
He  was  a  class-leader  for  many  years.  He  died  sixteen 
years  ago  last  January.  I  have  raised  eight  children,  but 
only  four  are  living,  one  son  and  three  daughters. 

"I  am  not  much  account  any  more,  but  I  am  still  here. 
My  health  has  been  better  the  past  winter  than  common. 
My  eyesight  is  good.     1  have  never  used  spectacles,  but  I 

27 


Footprints  of  Ahraham  Lincoln 

have  trouble  sometimes  in  threading  a  fine  needle.  My 
teeth  are  all  gone,  except  two  old  snags.  I  am  living  on 
my  farm  of  forty  acres,  two  miles  northwest  of  Grandview. 
I  have  a  house  of  four  rooms.  1  rent  my  farm  and  three 
rooms,  reserving  one  room  for  myself.  1  do  my  own  cook- 
ing, and  eat  alone." 

"Aunt  Betsy"  died  March  27,  1901,  two  years  after 
the  interview  mentioned,  in  her  eighty-ninth  year.  Her 
picture,  secured  for  this  book,  through  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Eneo,  residing  in  Spencer  County,  is  a  good  one. 

''The  Chronicles  of  Reuben,''  mentioned  by  "Aunt 
Betsy,"  were  written  in  scripture  style,  but  no  copy  has 
been  presei-ved.  Thomas  Bunton,  an  aged  citizen  of 
Gentryville,  told  me  that  he  remembered  hearing  the 
"Chronicles"  read  when  he  was  a  boy.  Redmond  D. 
Grigsby  told  me,  in  my  interview  ^vith  him,  that  he  was 
in  possession  of  them  for  some  time,  but  they  were  lost 
or  destroyed.  He  said  the  "Chronicles"  Avere  no  credit 
to  Mr.  Lincoln.  Those  purporting  to  be  the  "Chron- 
icles" in  Herndon  and  Weiks'  "Life  of  Lincoln,"  were 
written  by  Herndon  as  remembered  by  Mrs.  Crawford, 
the  wife  of  JosiaJi  Crawford.  Dr.  W.  S.  Bryant,  of 
Dale,  told  me,  some  years  ago,  that  he  accompanied 
Herndon,  in  1865,  to  the  Crawford  place,  when  the 
"Chronicles"  w^ere  written  as  before  stated.  It  had  then 
been  thirty-six  years  since  they  were  written. 

The  Grigsbys  were  much  irritcated  when  the  "Chron- 
icles" were  written,  and  have  protested  against  their 
becoming  a  matter  of  history.  It  is  alleged  that  they 
were  written,  to  humiliate  the  Grigsbys  for  slighting 
Lincoln  in  the  invitations  to  the  infare.  The  account 
of  the  fight  between  John  Johnston  and  William  Grigsby 
is  mentioned  in  full  in  Lamon's  "Life  of  Lincoln,"  but 

28 


Indiana  Associates  and  Incidents 

whether  all  the  details  there  mentioned  are  true  no  one 
ean  say. 

The  day  I  visited  Captain  and  Mrs.  Lamar,  already 
referred  to,  at  their  request,  I  visited  the  captain's 
cousin,  Mrs.  Ruth  Jennings  Huff,  residing  in  Buffalo- 
ville.  She  was  the  only  surviving  child  of  Josiah  Craw- 
ford. She  said  she  was  the  middle  child  of  five  children, 
three  brothers  and  one  sister.  She  showed  me  a  corner 
cupboard  made  by  Thomas  Lincoln  and  his  son  Abra- 
ham for  her  father.  Her  father  died  about  thirty 
years  before  my  \nsit.  In  the  distribution  of  the  prop- 
erty among  the  children,  among  other  things,  she  chose 
the  cupboard.  After  telling  many  things  she  had  heard 
her  parents  say  about  Lincoln,  I  ventured  to  ask  if  she 
ever  heard  of  the  "Chronicles  of  Reuben."  Her  quick, 
characteristic  reply  was,  "Lord,  yes ;  I  've  heard  mother 
tell  it  a  thousand  times."  Mrs.  Huff  died  at  the  resi- 
dence of  her  son,  S.  H.  eTennings,  in  Rockport,  Indiana, 
December  2(5,  1906,  in  her  eightieth  year.  Mr.  Jcrmings 
is  the  present  owner  of  the  cupboard  referred  to,  and  he 
writes  me  that  he  would  not  part  with  it  for  any  reason- 
able price.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  a  good  photograph 
of  Ids  mother. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  'twenties,  Abraham  Lincoln 
and  Henry  Brooner  walked  to  Vincennes,  Indiana,  a 
distance  of  more  than  fifty  miles,  and  while  there  they 
purchased  a  rifle  gun  in  partnership  for  fifteen  dollars. 
They  hunted  for  game  on  their  way  back  home.  When 
the  Lincolns  moved  to  Illinois  in  1830,  Mr.  Brooner 
purchased  Mr.  Lincoln's  interest  in  the  gun.  He  kept 
it  until  1872,  when  he  presented  it  to  his  adopted  son 
Samuel,  on  the  day  of  his  marriage.  I  purchased  the 
gun  of  Samuel  Brooner,  September  7,  1903.     Of  course, 

29 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  gun  was  originally  a  "flint-loek."  It  was  changed 
to  shoot  with  percussion  caps.  John  F.  IVIartin,  now 
living  at  Dale,  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  and  a  son-in- 
law  of  Henry  Brooner;  John  W.  Kemp,  now  sixty -three, 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  born  and  reared  on  a  farm  adjoin- 
ing Henry  Brooner,  and  Sanniel  Brooner,  each  made 
oath  as  to  their  knowledge  of  the  gun.  I  have  known 
all  these  persons  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  know 
their  testimony  to  be  first  class.  The  gnn  is  now  in 
possession  of  John  E.  Burton,  of  Lake  Geneva,  Wis- 
consin. 

Nearly  all  the  Lincoln  biographies  mention  the  fact 
that  Lincoln  often  read  and  studied  the  "Eevised  Stat- 
utes of  Indiana,"'  which  he  borrowed  of  David  Turnham, 
a  constable,  who  lived  near  the  Lincolns  in  Indiana. 
Mr.  Tumham's  father  and  family  came  to  Indiana  and 
settled  in  Spencer  County,  in  1819.  Turnham  and 
Lincoln  went  hunting  together  and  attended  the  same 
school,  although  Turnham  was  six  years  older,  as  he 
was  bom  August  2,  1803.  "The  Revised  Statutes," 
besides  containing  the  constitution  and  laws  of  Indiana, 
contained  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  No  doubt  it  was  in 
this  book  that  T^incoln  first  read  those  important  docu- 
ments. Mr.  Turnham  gave  the  book  to  Mr.  Herndon 
in  1865,  when  he  was  gathering  material  for  the  "Life 
of  Lincoln."  After  being  in  several  hands,  the  book  is 
now  said  to  be  in  possession  of  W.  H.  Winters,  librarian 
of  the  New  York  La.w  Institute. 

Twenty  years  ago  I  visited  the  home  of  David  Turn- 
hajn's  widow,  now  deceased,  who  knew  Mr.  Lincoln,  and 
I  was  well  acquainted  with  the  two  sons,  John  J.  and 
George  W.,  who  then  resided  at  Dale.     David  Turnham 

30 


Indmna  Associates  and  Incidents 

died  August  2,  1884,  at  the  age  of  eighty-one.  I  am 
under  obligation  to  my  esteemed  friend,  George  W. 
Tuniham,  now  of  Evansville,  Indiana,  for  information 
concerning  his  father,  for  a  copy  of  Lincoln's  letter  to 
his  father,  found  elsewhere  in  this  book,  and  for  his 
father's  and  mother's  pictures,  which  have  never  before 
appeared  in  any  publication. 


31 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Emigration  to  Illinois 

Preparations  for  Removal- — Recollections  of  Old  Acquaintances — ■ 
The  Old  Indiana  Home — Blocks  from  the  Old  House — The 
Cedar  Tree — More  Tangled  History  Untangled — Mr.  Jones' 
Store — Various  Experiences  in  Illinois — Recollections  of  an 
Old  Friend. 

After  residing  in  Indiana  fourteen  years,  and  having 
rather  a  rough  experience,  Thomas  Lincoln,  through 
the  inducements  of  others,  concluded  to  move  to  Illi- 
nois. Abraham  was  now  twenty-one  years  old.  The 
farm  products  were  sold  to  David  Turnham.  The 
family  started  March  1,  1830.  Other  families  accom- 
panied them. 

Expressions  made  to  me,  and  written  at  the  time  by 
different  persons  who  remembered  the  departure  of  the 
Lincolns,  are  here  given : 

Allen  Brooner  said:  "I  remember  when  the  Lincoln 
family  left  for  Illinois.  Abraham  and  his  step-brother, 
John  Johnston,  came  to  my  father's  to  trade  a  young 
horse  for  a  yoke  of  oxen.  The  trade  was  made.  John 
Johnston  did  most  of  the  talking." 

Redmond  D.  Grigsby  said :  "I  was  twelve  years  old 
when  the  Lincolns  left  for  Illinois.  I  helped  to  hitch 
the  two  yokes  of  oxen  to  the  wagon,  and  went  with  them 
half  a  mile.'' 

James  Gentry  said:  "I  was  eleven  yeare  old  when 
the  Lincoln  family  started  to  Illinois.  They  stayed  at 
my  father's  the  night  before  they  started." 

Mrs.  Lamar  said :  ''T  remember  when  the  Lincolns 
left  for  Illinois.     All  the  neig-hbors  went  to  see  them 

32 


UNITED    BRETHREN    CHURCH, 

At  Lincoln  City,  Indiana,  on  the  old  Lincoln  farm. 
The  author,  as  presiding  elder,  ha.s  officiated  and 
preached  in   this  church. 


'f.   \.- 


lire  Emigration,  to  Illinois 

start.     All  the  siirroimdinos.  to  my  mind,  are  as  plain 
a>j  things  are  now  in  ni}'  kitchen." 

The  old  Indiana  ho\ise.  built  bv  Thomas  Lincoln,  in 
1817.  was  torn  down,  and  the  logs  shipped  away,  many 
vears  ago,  except  one  log.  Isaac  Honghland,  a  reliable 
man  and  merchant  of  Lincoln  ("ity.  was  in  possession 
of  this  log,  and  stated  to  nic  that  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Skelton  said  he  would  make  oath  that  it  was  on<>  of 
the  logs  of  the  old  Lincoln  house.  Mr.  Honghland 
kindlv  gave  me  two  blocks,  which  I  saw  his  son  chop 
from  the  log. 

A  c-edar-tree  stands  near  where  the  Lincoln  house 
stood.  A  number  of  unreliable  stories  concerning  this 
tree  have  Ix'en  told  in  various  Lincoln  biographies, 
magazine  and  newspaper  articles.  Some  state  that  the 
tree  v,'as  planted  by  Abraham  Lincoln :  others,  that 
James  Gentry  planted  the  tree  the  day  the  Lincolns 
started  to  Illinois,  in  honor  of  his  friend,  Abraham. 
James  Gentry,  many  years  ago.  purcha^sed  several  hun- 
dred acres  of  land  around  and  including  the  Lincoln 
farm.  He  told  me,  in  the  interview  Ix^fore  mentioned, 
that  he  planted  the  cedar-tree  in  1858.  I  wrote  that 
fax't  in  his  presence,  and  have  preserved  the  original 
pa})er  on  which  it  is  written.  The  tree  was  ])lanted 
twenty-eight  years  after  the  Lincolns  vacated  the  prem- 
ises. Some  of  the  citizens  of  Lincoln  City  do  not  know 
the  true  history  of  the  tree.  Some  yet  believe  Lincoln 
planted  it.  and  hundreds  of  visitors  have  almost  stripped 
the  tree  of  its  twigs  and  branches  with  the  same  delusive 
idea.    H;ere  is  more  '"tangled  history  untangled.'' 

William  Jones  kept  a  store  at  Gentryville  some  years 
before,  and  at  the  time  the  Lincolns  went  away,  Abra- 

33 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

ham  often  worked  for  Mr.  Jones,  and  read  newspapers 
at  the  store.  Before  leaving  he  bought  thirty-five  dol- 
lars' worth  of  goods  from  Mr.  Jones  to  sell  on  the  way 
out  to  Illinois.  He  wrote  back  that  he  doubled  liis 
money  on  the  investment.  Mr.  Jones  was  bom  in 
Vincennes,  Indiana,  January  5,  1800.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Indiana  Legislature  from  1838  to  1841.  He 
was  killed  while  in  command  as  colonel  of  the  Fifty- 
third  Indiana  Regiment,  at  Atlanta,  Greorgia,  July  22, 
1864.  I  gather  these  facts,  mainly,  from  an  article 
furnished  a  newspaj^er  by  Captain  William  Jones,  of 
Rockport,  Indiana,  a  son  of  Colonel  William  Jones.  I 
knew  Captain  Jones  at  Dale,  many  years  ago. 

The  Lincolns  were  about  two  weeks  on  their  journey 
to  Illinois.  They  first  settled  near  Decatur.  Thomas 
Lincoln  moved  a  time  or  two  after,  and  finally  settled 
on  Goosenest  Prairie,  near  Farmington,  in  Coles 
County,  where  he  died  January  12,  1851,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-three.  Lincoln's  step-mother,  whom  he  loved 
very  dearly,  died  April  10,  1869,  in  her  eighty-first  year, 
and  four  years  after  the  death  of  her  famous  step-son. 

After  his  removal  to  Illinois,  Abraliam  Lincoln  did 
not  remain  much  of  the  time  at  home.  I  shall  not 
follow  liis  history  here  in  detail.  His  rail-splitting  pro- 
clivities; liis  Black  Hawk  War  record;  Ms  experience 
as  a  merchant  and  postmaster;  his  career  as  a  lawyer; 
his  election  at  various  times  to  the  Illinois  Legislature ; 
his  election  to  Congress;  his  marriage,  and  many  other 
matters  of  history  are  found  in  most  any  of  his  numer- 
ous biographies.  Whatever  reference  may  be  made  to 
any  of  these  periods  in  his  history  Avill  be  for  t'le  pur- 
pose of  introducing  new  material. 

34 


The  Emigration  to  Illin'Ois 

The  following,  relative  to  some  of  Lincoln's  early 
experiences  in  Indiana,  was  related  to  me  by  one  of 
Lincoln's  early  Indiana  friends,  Allen  Brooner: 

"I  went  to  Illinois  in  1835-36.  Most  of  the  time  I  was 
there  I  worked  at  the  carpenter  trade  at  Petersburg.  We 
were  getting  out  timber  for  a  mill.  The  owner  made  me 
'boss.'  At  that  time  Abraham  Lincoln  was  postmaster  at 
New  Salem.  He  was  also  keeping  a  store  at  the  time. 
While  I  was  there,  Lincoln  made  a  mistake  in  his  own 
favor  of  five  cents  in  trading  with  a  woman.  When  he 
discovered  his  mistake,  he  walked  two  and  a  half  miles  to 
correct  the  mistake.  The  county  surveyor  came  to  see 
Lincoln  while  I  was  out  there,  and  wanted  to  make  him 
his  deputy.  Lincoln  said,  'I  know  nothing  of  surveying.' 
'But,'  said  the  surveyor,  'they  tell  me  you  can  learn  any- 
thing.' Not  long  afterward  I  saw  Lincoln  out  surveying. 
When  Lincoln  would  hand  me  my  mail  he  would  often 
inquire  about  the  Spencer  County  people  and  the  old 
acquaintances.  In  his  conversation  he  always  put  the  best 
construction  on  everything." 


35 


CHAPTER  V. 
Lincoln  Visits  the  Old  Indiana  Home 

Lincoln  an  Admirer  of  Heni-y  Clay — A  Whig  Elector — Goes  to 
Indiana — Makes  Speeches — Old  Friends  and  Old-Time  Scenes — 
Writes  a  Poem. 

Ix  1844,  Henry  Clay  was  a  candidate  for  President 
of  the  United  States,  on  the  Whig  ticket.  Abraham 
Lincohi  was  a  great  admirer  of  j\Ir.  Clay,  and  referred 
to  him  as  his  "beau-ideal  of  a  statesman."  Ho  was 
placed  on  the  Whig  ticket  as  presidential  elector,  and 
made  speeches  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay's  election.  During 
the  canvass  he  visited  his  old  home  and  acquaintances 
in  Indiana  for  the  first  time  since  he  left,  fourteen  years 
Ijefore,  and  it  was  his  only  visit  to  the  home  of  his 
youth. 

On  the  22d  of  October,  1898,  Thomas  Bunton,  then 
seventy-five  years  old,  said  to  me :  "I  heard  Lincoln 
speak  in  Gentr^^'ille  in  1844.  I  saw  him  coming  to  the 
place  of  meeting  with  Mr.  Jones.  I  heard  Lincoln  say, 
'Don't  introduce  me  to  any  one ;  I  Avant  to  see  how 
many  I  can  recognize.*  He  went  around  shaking  hands, 
and  when  he  came  to  me  he  said,  'This  is  a  Bunton.'  " 

Captain  Lamiir  said,  at  the  time  of  my  visit  to  him 
already  mentioned :  "i\.t  the  close  of  Lincoln's  speech, 
near  Buffaloville,  he  said,  'Friends  and  fellow-citizens, 
I  may  never  see  you  again,  but  give  us  a  protective  tai-iff 
and  you  will  some  day  see  the  greatest  nation  the  sun 
ever  shone  over.'  While  saying  this  he  pointed  to  the 
east  and,  raising  his  hand,  he  closed  the  sentence  point- 
ing to  the  west.     From  the  speaking  I  went  with  him 

36 


Lincoln  Visits  the  Old  Indiana  Home 

to  Si  Crawford's  for  dinner.  He  talked  much  about 
old  times,  places,  and  people  familiar  to  him  in  other 
days.  The  last  words  Abe  said  to  me  were  these,  'You 
are  comparatively  young,  God  bless  you,  I  may  never 
see  you  again.' " 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  so  impressed  by  his  visit  to  the  old 
home  that  he  wrote  a  descriptive  poem,  which  is  pub- 
lished in  some  of  tho  Lincoln  biographies.  The  follow- 
ing letter,  written  in  1846,  explains  why  he  wrote  the 
poem : 

"Tlie  piece  of  poetry  of  my  own  which  I  allude  to  I  was 
led  to  write  under  the  following  circumstances:  In  the 
fall  (Of  1844,  thinking  I  might  aid  to  carry  the  State  of 
Indiana  for  Mr.  Clay,  I  went  to  the  neighborhood  in  that 
State  in  which  I  was  raised,  where  my  mother  and  my 
only  sister  are  buried,  and  from  which  I  had  been  about 
fifteen  years.  That  part  of  the  country  is,  within  itself, 
as  unpoetical  as  any  spot  of  the  earth;  but  still,  seeing  it 
and  its  objects  and  inhabitants  aroused  feelings  in  me 
which  were  certainly  poetry,  though  whether  my  expression 
of  these  feelings  is  poetry  is  quite  another  question.  When 
I  got  to  writing,  the  change  of  subject  divided  the  thing 
into  four  little  divisions,  or  cantos,  the  first  only  of  which 
I  send  you,  and  may  send  the  others  hereafter." 

"Ivly  childhood's  home  I  see  again, 
And  sadden  with  the  view; 
And  still,  as  memory  crowds  my  brain, 
There  's  pleasure  in  it,  too. 

"O  memory!    thou  midway  world 
'Twixt  earth  and  paradise, 
"Where  things  decayed,  and  loved  ones  lost, 
In  dreamy  shadows  rise; 

"And,  freed  from  all  that 's  earthly  vile. 
Seem  hallowed,  pure,  and  bright, 
Like  scenes  in  some  enchanted  isle, 
All  bathed  in  liquid  light. 


Footprints  of  Ahraham  Lincoln 

"As  dusky  mountains  please  the  eye, 
When  twilight  chases  day; 
As  bugle  notes  that,  passing  by, 
In  distance  die  away; 

"As  leaving  some  grand  waterfall, 
We,  lingering,  list  its  roar; 
So  memory  will  hallow  all 

We  've  known,  but  know  no  more. 

"Near  twenty  years  have  passed  away 
Since  here  I  bid  farewell 
To  woods  and  fields,  and  scenes  of  play, 
And  playmates  loved  so  well; 

"Where  many  were,  but  few  remain, 
Of  old,  familiar  things: 
But  seeing  them  to  mind  again 
The  lost  and  absent  brings. 

"The  friends  I  left  that  parting  day. 
How  changed!    as  time  has  sped 
Young  childhood  grown,  strong  manhood  gray, 
And  half  of  all  are  dead. 

"I  hear  the  loud  survivors  tell 

How  naught  from  death  could  save, 
Till  every  sound  appears  a  knell, 
And  every  spot  a  grave. 

"I  range  the  fields  with  pensive  tread, 

And  pace  the  hollow  rooms, 
And  feel  (companions  of  the  dead), 
I  'm  living  in  the  tombs." 


38 


CHAPTER  VI. 
Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

Famous  Law  Cases — The  Clary  Grove  Boys — The  Wrestling:  Con 
test — Jack  and  Hannah  Armstrong — Trial  of  Their  Son  for 
Murder — Lincoln's  Tact  and  the  Acquittal — Letters  from  the 
Surviving  Attorney  in  the  Case — More  Tangled  History 
Untangletl — Unpublished  Facts  Connected  with  Parties  in  the 
Case. 

Lincoln,  as  a  lawyer,  was  employed  in  a  number  of 
noted  cases  involving  great  interests.  One  was  the 
defense  of  a  slave  girl,  Nancy,  in  1841,  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois,  who,  through  him,  was  made  free.  At 
this  time  Mr.  Lincoln  was  only  thirty-two  years  of  age. 
The  case  excited  great  interest,  and  the  decision  forever 
settled  the  few  traces  of  slavery  which  had  then  existed 
in  southern  Illinois. 

Another  case  was  the  Central  Illinois  Railroad  Com- 
pany against  McLean  County,  Illinois,  tried  at  Bloom- 
ington.  This  case  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  railroad. 
Mr.  Lincoln  received  from  the  company  a  fee  of  $5,000, 
the  largest  fee  he  ever  received. 

Another  suit  in  which  he  was  employed  was  the 
McCormick  Reaper  Patent  case,  tried  in  1857,  in  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio.  Here  Mr.  Lincoln  first  met  the  Honor- 
able Edwin  M.  Stanton,  who  was  employed  on  the  same 
side  of  the  case.  Mr.  Stanton  treated  Mr.  Lincoln  with 
great  disrespect.  Mr.  Lincoln  overheard  him,  in  an 
adjoining  room,  ask,  "Where  did  that  long-armed  crea- 
ture come  from,  and  what  can  he  do  in  this  case?"  He 
also  declared  if  "that  giraffe"  was  permitted  to  appear 
in  the  case  he  would  throw  up  his  brief  and  leave  it. 
He  further  referred  to  Lincoln  as  a  "long,  lank  creature 

39 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

from  Illinois,  wearing  a  dirty  linen  duster  for  a  coat, 
the  back  of  which  the  perspiration  had  splotched 
with  stains  that  resembled  the  map  of  a  continent." 
As  there  were  a  number  of  attorneys  on  both  sides,  it 
was  ordered  that  only  two  speeches  be  made  on  each 
side.  This  order  would  exclude  either  Lincoln  or  Stan- 
ton, as  there  were  three  attorneys  on  that  side  of  the 
ease.  At  Lincoln's  suggestion,  Stanton  quickly  decided 
to  speak.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  disappointed,  for  he 
had  made  much  preparation.  Four  years  later,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  inaugurated  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  he  chose  Mr.  Stanton  as  a  member  of  his 
cabinet,  and  they  Avere  close  friends  during  the  Civil 
War. 

The  most  celebrated  case  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  fig- 
ured was  the  Armstrong  case,  in  1858.  All  the  Lincoln 
biographers  refer  to  it,  and  as  I  have  some  unpublished 
facts  in  reference  to  it  and  some  of  the  parties  con- 
nected with  the  case,  it  is  here  presented  at  length. 

There  was  near  New  Salem  a  band  of  young  men 
known  as  the  "Clary  Grove  Boys."  The  special  tie 
that  united  them  was  physical  courage  and  strength. 
Every  newcomer  of  any  great  strength  had  to  be  tested. 
So  Lincoln  Avas  required  to  go  through  the  ordeal  of  a 
wrestling  match.  Seeing  that  he  could  not  be  easily 
floored.  Jack  Armstrong,  their  champion,  was  chosen 
to  lay  Lincoln  on  his  back.  Many  gathered  to  witness 
the  contest,  and  a  number  of  bets  were  made.  After 
quite  a  spirited  engagement,  Lincoln  won,  and  was 
invited  to  become  one  of  the  company.  Jack  Armstrong 
declared,  "Abe  Lincoln  is  the  best  man  that  ever  broke 
into  the  settlement,"  and  he  became  a  lifelong,  warm 
friend  of  Lincoln. 

40 


Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

Some  time  after  the  scuffle,  Lincoln  found  a  home, 
for  a  time,  with  Jack  Armstrong,  where  he  read  and 
studied.  Armstrong  was  a  farmer,  and  a  poor  niau. 
but  lie  saw  genius  struggling  in  the  young  student,  and 
welcomed  him  to  his  cabin  home  and  rough  fare.  Mrs. 
Armstrong,  a  most  excellent  woiiinii.  learned  to  respect 
Mr.  Lincoln,  and  befriended  him  in  many  ways. 

About  twenty  years  after  Lincoln's  stay  in  the  Ann- 
strong  home,  William  D.  Armstrong,  commonly  called 
"Duff,"  a  son  of  Jack  and  Hannah  Armstrong,  became 
involved  in  a  difficulty.  He  was  somewhat  wild,  and 
was  often  in  bad  company.  One  night,  in  August,  1857, 
in  company  with  a  wild  crowd,  he  went  to  a  cani))- 
meeting,  where  a  row  ensued,  in  which  a  man  named 
Metzker  received  injuries  from  whicli  he  died  three  days 
later.  Young  Armstrong  and  another  young  man, 
IvTorns,  were  arrested,  charged  with  murder,  and  put 
in  jail.  The  community  was  greatly  stirred  over  the 
matter  and  demanded  the  speedy  punishment  of  the 
prisoners.  A  short  time  after  "Duff  was  placed  in  jail, 
iiis  father,  Jack  Armstrong,  died,  and  his  last  request 
was  for  his  wife  to  sell  everything  she  had  to  clear 
"Duff."  Mrs.  Armstrong  engaged  two  lawyers  at 
Havana,  Illinois,  and  Lincoln,  heai-ing  of  her  troiibles. 
wrote  h(>r  the  follo^\^ng  letter: 

"Springfield,  Ohio,  September  18,  . 

"Dkar  Mrs.  ARiMSTKOxr, : — I  have  just  heard  of  your  deep 
affliction,  and  the  arrest  of  your  son  for  murder.  I  can 
hardly  believe  that  he  can  be  guilty  of  the  crime  alleged 
against  him.  It  does  not  seem  possible.  I  am  anxious 
that  he  should  have  a  fair  trial,  at  any  rate;  and  gratitude 
for  your  long-continued  kindness  to  me  in  adverse  circum- 
stances prompts  me  to  offer  my  humble  services  gratui- 
tously in  his  behalf.     It  will  afford  me  an  opportunity  to 

41 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

requite,  in  a  small  degree,  the  favors  I  received  at  your 
hand,  and  that  of  your  lamented  husband,  when  your  roof 
afforded  me  grateful  shelter  without  money  and  without 
price.  Yours  truly, 

"Abraham  Lincoln." 

The  first  act  was  to  secure  a  postponement  and  a 
change  in  place  of  trial.  The  trial  was  held  at  Beards- 
town,  in  May,  1858,  only  two  years  before  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  nominated  for  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  case  was  watched  with  great  interest.  Norris  had 
already  been  convicted  and  sent  to  the  penitentiary. 

"When  the  trial  was  called  the  prisoner  was  pale  and 
emaciated,  with  hopelessness  written  on  every  feature. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  half-hoping,  half-despairing 
mother,  whose  only  hope  was  in  a  mother's  belief  of  her 
son's  innocence,  in  the  justice  of  the  God  she  worshiped, 
and  in  the  noble  counsel,  who,  without  hope  of  fee  or 
reward  upon  earth,  had  undertaken  the  case." 

A  statement  of  the  trial  is  here  taken,  wltli  a  few 
changes,  from  Barrett's  excellent  "Life  of  Lincoln" : 

"Mr.  Lincoln  sat  quietly  by  while  the  large  auditory 
looked  on  him  as  though  wondering  what  he  could  say  in 
defense  of  one  whose  guilt  they  regarded  as  certain.  The 
examination  of  the  witnesses  for  the  State  was  begun,  and 
a  well-arranged  mass  of  evidence,  circumstantial  and  posi- 
tive, was  introduced,  which  seemed  to  impale  the  prisoner 
beyond  the  possibility  of  extrication.  The  strongest  evi- 
dence was  that  of  a  man  who  belonged  to  the  rough  ele- 
ment, who  swore  that  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night  he  saw 
Armstrong  strike  the  deceased  on  the  head,  that  the  moon 
was  shining  brightly,  and  was  nearly  full,  and  that  its 
position  in  the  sky  was  just  about  that  of  the  sun  at  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  that  by  it  he  saw  Armstrong 
give  the  mortal  blow. 

"The  counsel  for  the  defense  propounded  but  few  ques- 
tions, and  those  of  a  character  which  excited  no  uneasiness 

42 


Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

on  the  part  of  the  prosecutor — merely,  in  most  cases,  re- 
quiring the  main  witness  to  be  definite  as  to  time  and 
place. 

"When  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution  was  ended,  Lin- 
coln introduced  a  few  witnesses  to  remove  some  erroneous 
impressions  in  regard  to  the  previous  character  of  his 
client,  who,  though  somewhat  rowdyish,  had  never  been 
known  to  commit  a  vicious  act;  and  to  show  that  a  greater 
degree  of  ill  feeling  existed  between  the  accuser  and  the 
accused  than  the  accused  and  the  deceased. 

"The  prosecutor  felt  that  the  case  was  a  clear  one,  and 
his  opening  speech  was  brief  and  formal.  Lincoln  arose, 
while  a  deathly  silence  pervaded  the  vast  audience,  and  in 
a  clear,  but  moderate  tone,  began  his  argument.  Slowly 
and  carefully  he  reviewed  the  testimony,  pointing  out  the 
hitherto  unobserved  discrepancies  in  the  statements  of  the 
principal  witness.  That  which  had  seemed  plain  and 
plausible,  he  made  to  appear  as  a  serpent's  path.  The 
witness  had  stated  that  the  affair  took  place  at  a  certain 
hour  in  the  evening,  and  that,  by  the  aid  of  the  brightly- 
shining  moon,  he  saw  the  prisoner  inflict  the  death  blow." 

At  this  point  Mr.  Lincoln  produced  an  almanac, 
which  showed  that  at  the  time  referred  to  by  tlie  witness 
there  was  no  moon  at  all,  and  showed  it  to  the  Jury. 
He  then  said  that  the  principal  witness  had  testified  to 
what  was  absolutely  false,  and  declared  his  whole  story 
a  fabrication.  Lincoln  had  told  no  one  of  his  discovery, 
so  that  it  produced  quite  a  sensation. 

"An  almost  instantaneous  change  seemed  to  have  been 
wrought  in  the  minds  of  the  auditors,  and  the  verdict  of 
'not  guilty'  was  at  the  end  of  every  tongue.  But  the  advo- 
cate was  not  content  with  this  intellectual  achievement. 
His  whole  being  had  for  months  been  bound  up  in  this 
work  of  gratitude  and  mercy,  and,  as  the  lava  of  the  over- 
charged crater  bursts  from  its  imprisonment,  so  great 
thoughts  and  burning  words  leaped  from  the  soul  of  the 
eloquent  Lincoln.     He  drew  a  picture  of  the  perjurer,  so 

43 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

horrid  and  ghastly  that  the  accuser  could  sit  under  it  no 
longer,  but  reeled  and  staggered  from  the  court-room,  while 
the  audience  fancied  they  could  see  the  brand  upon  his 
brow.  Then,  in  words  of  thrilling  pathos,  Lincoln  appealed 
to  the  jurors,  as  fathers  of  sons  who  might  become  father- 
less, and  as  husbands  of  wives  who  might  be  widowed,  to 
yield  to  no  previous  impressions,  no  ill-founded  prejudice, 
but  to  do  his  client  justice.  As  he  alluded  to  the  debt  of 
gratitude  he  owed  the  boy's  dead  father  and  his  living- 
widowed  mother,  tears  were  seen  to  fall  from  many  eyes 
unused  to  weep.  It  was  near  night  when  he  concluded  by 
saying  that  if  justice  was  done, — as  he  believed  it  would 
be, — before  the  sun  should  set  it  would  shine  upon  his 
client  a  free  man. 

"The  jury  retired,  and  the  court  adjourned  for  the  day. 
Half  an  hour  had  not  elapsed  when  a  messenger  announced 
that  the  jury  had  returned  to  their  seats.  All  repaired 
immediately  to  the  court-house,  and  while  the  prisoner  was 
being  brought  from  the  jail,  the  court-room  was  filled  to 
overflowing  with  citizens  of  the  town.  When  the  prisoner 
and  his  mother  entered,  silence  reigned  as  completely  as 
though  the  house  were  empty.  The  foreman  of  the  jury. 
in  answer  to  the  usual  inquiry  from  the  court,  delivered 
the  verdict  of  'Not  guilty.' 

"The  widow  dropped  into  the  arms  of  her  son.  who  lifted 
her  up,  and  told  her  to  look  upon  him  as  before,  free  and 
innocent.  Then  with  the  words,  'Where  is  Mr.  Lincoln?' 
he  rushed  across  the  room,  and  grasped  the  hand  of  his 
deliverer,  while  his  heart  was  too  full  for  utterance.  Lin- 
coln turned  his  eyes  toward  the  west,  where  the  sun  still 
lingered  in  view,  and  then,  turning  to  the  youth,  said,  'It 
is  not  yet  sundown,  and  you  are  free.'  An  eye-witness 
says:  'I  confess  that  my  cheeks  were  not  wholly  unwet 
by  tears  as  I  turned  from  the  affecting  scene.  As  I  cast 
a  glance  behind,  I  saw  Abraham  Lincoln  obeying  the  divine 
injunction,  by  comforting  the  widowed  and  the  fatherless.'  " 

A  story  lia.s  been  reported  that  the  introduction  of  an 
almanac  in  the  Armstrong  trial  was  a  piece  of  trickery 
on  Lincoln's  part;  that  an  almanac  of  1853  was  use<:l 

44 


Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

with  all  ihe  figure  3's  chanp-ed  to  7's.  This  was  not 
uecessar}',  for  the  almanae  of  1857  answered  the  pur- 
pose, and,  besides,  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  dishonest 
law^'er. 

Otliers  liave  claimed  that  no  almanac  was  used  at  all 
in  the  trial.  George  Gary  Eggleston.  a  noted  author, 
is  reported  as  putting  a  discount  on  it,  and  intimates 
that  the  story  arose  from  an  incident  comiected  with  a 
trial  in  the  early  'fifties  at  Yevay,  Indiana,  witnessed 
by  liimself  and  his  brother  Edward,  the  author  of  the 
'"Hoosier  Schoolmaster,"  and  other  popular  novels.  He 
says  his  brother,  in  writing  the  novel,  entitled  "The 
Graysons,"  exercised  the  novelist's  privilege,  and  attrib- 
iited  this  clever  trick  to  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  davs 
of  his  obscurity. 

Part  First  of  Honorable  J.  H.  Barrett's  "Life  of 
Lincoln"  was  prepared  for  the  press  in  June,  1860,  just 
after  Mr.  Lincoln's  nomination  for  the  presidency,  and 
only  two  years  after  the  Armstrong  trial,  and  there  the 
trial  is  mentioned  in  full,  with  the  almanac  incident. 
How  does  the  George  Gary  Eggleston  account  jibe  with 
these  facts?  His  brother  Edward  simply  stated  an  his- 
torical fact  in  attributing  the  almanac  incident  to  Lin- 
coln, and  it  was  not  the  exercise  of  a  novelist's  fancy. 

In  order  to  secure  additional  facts  in  the  Armstrong 
case,  I  recently  wrote  to  the  postmaster  at  Havana, 
Illinois,  for  the  names  of  the  lawyers,  if  yet  living,  who 
were  associated  with  Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  case.  The 
following  letter  was  received,  which  is  here  given  for  its 
historic  value: 

"Havana,  Ilt.inois,  August  22.  1908. 
"Rev.  J.  T.  Hobson,  Dear  Sik: — Your  letter  directed   to 
the  postmaster  of  this   place,  dated   August  18,  1908,   v/as 

45 


Footprints  of  Ahrahani  Lincoln 

handed  to  me  by  the  postmaster,  Mr.  Oscar  Harpham,  and 
he  requested  me  to  answer  your  letter. 

"You  ask  for  the  names  of  the  lawyers  in  Havana,  who, 
in  connection  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  defended  Duff  Arm- 
strong in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Cass  County,  Illinois,  held 
in  Beardstown,  in  1858.  In  answer,  I  will  state  that  the 
undersigned,  Lyman  Lacey,  Sr.,  was  one  of  the  two  lawyers 
who  was  employed  to  defend  said  Armstrong.  Our  firm 
name  was  Walker  and  Lacey,  and  we  were  practicing  law 
in  Havana,  Mason  County,  Illinois,  at  the  time  in  partner- 
ship, and  had  been  so  engaged  at  the  time  of  the  trial 
since  1856.  Mr.  Walker's  given  name  was  William.  In 
1865,  Mr.  William  Walker  removed  to  Lexington,  State  of 
Missouri,  where  he  practiced  law,  and  was  county  judge 
part  of  the  time,  and,  a  few  years  ago,  died. 

"I  am  the  only  attorney  who  practiced  and  was  employed 
to  defend  Armstrong,  yet  alive.  I  am  in  the  pi-actice  of 
law  now,  and  am  in  good  health,  and  on  the  9th  day  of 
May  last  was  seventy-six  years  old.  Was  about  twenty-six 
years  old  at  the  time  of  trial  of  the  Armstrong  case  in 
Beardstown,  and  my  partner,  some  years  older  than  myself, 
was  the  senior  member  of  our  firm.  He  attended  the  trial 
in  Beardstown  with  Lincoln.  I  was  not  present,  but  stayed 
at  home  in  the  office  in  Havana. 

"Mason  and  Cass  counties  join,  and  the  crime  of  killing 
Metzker,  for  which  Armstrong  was  indicted,  took  place  in 
Mason  County,  and  the  indictment  against  Armstrong  was 
found  in  this  county,  and  a  change  of  venue  was  taken  to 
Cass  County,  which  was  in  the  same  judicial  district. 

"I  was  well  acquainted  with  Hannah  Armstrong,  mother 
of  "Duff,"  with  whom  Lincoln  had  boarded  in  Menard 
County,  which  also  joins  Mason,  when  he  was  a  young  man, 
and  before  he  was  a  lawyer.  That  was  the  reason  Lincoln 
would  not  charge  anything  for  defending  her  son.  Our 
firm,  Walker  and  Lacey,  did  not  charge  her  anything  for 
our  services.  "Duff"  could  not  pay.  His  mother  employed 
UB  and  Lincoln.  Lincoln  and  our  firm  consulted  together 
about  the  defense,  and  Walker  assisted  at  the  trial. 

"I  would  be  glad  to  give  you  any  information  in  regard 
to  the  trial  and  the  parties  in  the  Armstrong  case.     It  was 

46 


Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

quite  celebrated,  axid  things  have  been  told  that  were  not 
true. 

"In  regard  to  myself,  in  1873  I  was  elected  judge  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  and  elected  three  times  afterwards,  and 
sen?^ed  in  all  twenty-four  years.  By  appointment  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  this  State,  I  served  twenty  years  on  the 
Appellate  Court  bench.     I  retired  from  the  bench  in  1897. 

"Yours  very  truly, 

"Lyman  Lacey,  Sr." 

After  receiving  the  above  letter,  I  wrote  to  Judge 
Lacy  for  additional  information,  and,  in  reply,  received 
another  letter  containing  interesting  data,  which  here 
follows : 

"Havana,  Illinois,  September  1,  1908. 

"Rev.  J.  T.  Hobson,  Dear  Sir: — Your  letter  of  August 
26th,  was  duly  received,  and  contents  noted.  I  wish  to 
state  to  you  that  William  Duff  Armstrong  was  duly  and 
jointly  indicted  with  James  H.  Norris  in  the  Circuit  Court 
of  Mason  County,  Illinois,  for  the  murder  of  Metzker, 
October  3,  1857.  Hugh  FuUerton,  of  Mason  County,  was 
State's  attorney  and  prosecutor,  and  is  long  since  deceased. 
Norris  was  unable  to  employ  an  attorney,  not  having  the 
necessary  means.  According  to  the  laws  of  Illinois,  in 
such  case  the  circuit  judge  appoints  an  attorney  at  law  to 
defend  him,  and  the  attorney  is  obliged  to  defend  the 
prisoner  without  compensation.  Accordingly  the  court 
appointed  William  Walker,  my  law  partner,  to  defend 
Norris,  which  he  did.  Norris  was  tried  before  a  jury  of 
twelve  men  in  Mason  County,  and  said  jury,  on  the  5th  of 
November,  convicted  him  of  manslaughter,  and  fixed  the 
time  he  should  serve  in  the  penitentiary  as  eight  years, 
and  the  judge  sentenced  him  to  serve  that  time  in  the 
penitentiary  at  hard  labor,  which  he  did,  less  time  gained 
by  good  behavior. 

"William  Duff  Armstrong  was  granted  a  change  of  venue, 
November  5,  1857,  to  Cass  County,  Illinois,  and  was  tried 
the  next  spring.  William  Walker  and  myself  were  em- 
ployed by  Hannah  Armstrong  and   Duff  to  defend  him   in 


Footprints  of  Abraham   Lincoln 

€ass  County,  Illinois.  I  cannot  state  for  certain  whether 
'Aunt  Hannah'  first  sought  the  advice  and  help  of  Lincoln, 
or  whether  Lincoln  first  volunteered  his  services,  but  my 
recollection  is  that  she  first  sought  his  aid.  I  understood 
after  the  trial  of  Duff  that  Mr.  Lincoln  told  her  he  would 
make  no  charge  for  his  services,  because,  he  told  her, 
she  had  spent  more  time,  while  he  boarded  with  her,  in 
darning  his  stockings  and  mending  his  clothes,  than  he 
had  in  defending  her  son  in  the  trial,  and  as  she  never 
charged  him  anything,  he  wculd  not  charge  her  for  his 
services. 

"You  know  that  'Old  Abe,'  as  he  was  called,  was  a  humor- 
ous kind  of  a  man.  At  one  time  when  I  was  in  Beardstown, 
at  a  term  of  court,  looking  after  the  Armstrong  case.  Lin- 
coln w^as  also  there,  and  the  judge,  who  had  to  come  down 
on  a  steamboat  from  Pekin  on  the  Illinois  River,  w^as  long 
delayed.  Lincoln  and  myself  were  at  the  same  hotel  in 
Beardstown,  waiting  for  the  judge,  when  Lincoln  became 
very  uneasy,  and  walked  backward  and  forward,  slowly, 
at  the  door  of  the  hotel,  when  finally  he  spelled  out — 
"t-e-j-u-s,  t-e-j-u-s,'  pronouncing  the  word  as  spelled  twice. 

"In  regard  to  the  almanac  question,  there  was  a  witness 
who  testified  that  after  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  moon  was 
shining  brightly,  he  saw  Duff  Armstrong  strike  Metzker 
with  a  club.  Lincoln  and  my  partner,  William  Walker, 
introduced  the  almanac  of  1857,  showing  that  the  moon 
set  before  eleven  o'clock,  which  proved  that  the  witness 
was  swearing  to  a  falsehood  as  regarded  the  shining  of  the 
moon.  Now  some  one  started  the  story  that  the  almanac 
introduced  was  not  one  of  the  date  of  1857,  but  of  a  former 
date  showing  the  setting  of  the  moon  before  eleven  o'clock. 
.  .  .  My  partner.  Walker,  wciild  have  told  me  about  it  if 
such  a  trick  had  been  performed  at  the  trial,  but  he  never 
did.  Some  years  ago,  I  examined  an  almanac  of  1857, 
which  showed  the  setting  of  the  moon  was  before  eleven 
o'clock,  and  that  it  was  the  right  almanac  to  introduce. 
A  year  or  two  before  Duff  Armstrong  died,  I  had  a  con- 
versation with  him  in  Mason  City,  Mason  County,  Illinois, 
and  he  said  there  was  no  truth  in  the  story  that  an  almanac 
of  a  different  date  than  1857  was  introduced.     The  above 

48 


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05 

Lincoln  and  the  Armstrong  Case 

charge  is  untrue,  and  is  what  I  referred  to  in  my  former 
letter.  .  .  . 

"I  practiced  law  with  Herndon  in  the  'fifties  and  the 
'sixties,  and  he  often  talked  to  me  about  Lincoln,  whom  he 
liked  very  much,  and  afterward  wrote  his  history.  [Hern- 
don was  Lincoln's  law  partner  twenty  years.] 

"At  the  time  of  the  Armstrong  trial,  Lincoln  was  not 
looked  upon  as  the  great  man  he  is  to-day,  only  that  he  was 
a  very  good  and  successful  lawyer.  No  one  ever  dreamed 
that  he  would  be  President.  He  was  a  man  of  great  com- 
mon sense,  and  an  amusing  story-teller.  He  knew  how  to 
please  the  common  people,  and  everybody  liked  him  per- 
sonally. Yours  truly, 

"Lyman  Lacey,  Sr." 

Miss  Ida  M.  Tarbell  says,  in  McClure's  Magazine, 
that  Lincoln  told  the  Jury  in  the  Armstrong  case  that 
lie  was  not  there  as  a  hired  attorney,  but  to  discharge 
a  debt  of  gratitude.  Duff  x\rmstrong  said :  "Uncle 
x\be  did  his  best  talking  when  he  told  the  jury  what  true 
friends  mv  father  and  mother  had  been  to  him  in  the 
early  days.  He  told  how  he  used  to  go  out  to  Jack 
Armstrong's  and  stay  for  days;  how  kind  mother  was 
to  him;  and  how,  many  a  time,  he  had  rocked  me  to 
sleep  in  the  old  cradle.'" 

J.  M.  Hobson,  now  in  his  eighty-first  year,  and  who, 
for  many  years,  has  resided  in  Winterset,  Iowa,  recently 
informed  me  that  he  was  acquainted  with  "Aunt  Han- 
nah." She  was  married  the  second  time  to  Samuel 
Wilcox.  She  died  in  Winterset,  August  15,  1890,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-nine. 

Mr.  Hobson  further  said:  "The  son  that  Lincoln 
took  an  interest  in  was  here  fifteen  or  sixteen  years 
ago.  His  name  was  William,  but  they  called  him 
"Duffy."  We  had  a  revival  meeting  at  our  church,  and 
he  attended.     I  took  an  interest  in  him,  and  tried  to 

49 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

get  him  to  be  a  Christian.  He  did  not  make  a  start 
then,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  he  did  later  or  not."'     " 

Duff  Armstrong  was  a  soldier  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
died  a  widower,  in  1899,  at  his  daughter's,  near  Easton, 
Mason  County,  Illinois. 

"Aunt  Hannah"  has  a  number  of  relatives  in  Winter- 
set,  Iowa,  among  them  Mrs.  Martha  McDonald,  her 
step-daughter  and  daughter-in-law.  She  was  first  mar- 
ried to  Robert,  a  son  of  "Aunt  Hannah."  He  died  sev- 
eral years  ago.  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  McDonald, 
through  J.  M.  Hobson,  for  the  excellent  picture  of 
"Aunt  Hannah"  in  this  book,  also  for  the  picture  of 
"Duff,"  taken  late  in  life,  as  an  every-day  farmer.  He 
was  Mrs.  McDonald's  step-brother  and  brother-in-law. 


dO 


CHAPTER  VII. 
Lincoln's  Temperance  Principles 

Promise  Made  to  His  Mother — Writes  a  Temperance  Article 
Before  Leaving  Indiana — Mr.  Wood  and  Mr.  Farmer — Did 
Lincoln  Sell  W^hisky? — His  Great  Temperance  Address — Testi- 
mony of  Associates — Moses  Martins  Letter — The  Internal 
Revenue  Bill. 

It  is  well  known  that  Abraham  Lincoln  was  strietlv 
a  temperance  man.  His  early  training  was  on  that  line. 
In  his  maturer  years,  while  a  member  of  Congress, 
when  urged  by  an  associate  to  drink  on  a  certain  occa- 
sion, he  said,  "I  promised  my  precious  mother  only  a 
few  days  before  she  died  tliat  I  would  never  use  any- 
thing intoxicating  as  a  beverage,  and  I  consider  that 
promise  as  binding  to-dav  as  it  was  on  the  day  I  made 
it." 

Among  his  first  literary'  efforts,  at  his  boyhood  home 
in  Indiana,  was  to  ^\Tite  an  article  on  temperance.  Wil- 
liam Wood,  living  near  by,  was  Lincoln's  chief  adviser 
in  many  things.  He  took  a  political  and  a  temperance 
paper,  and  Lincoln  read  them  thoroughly.  He  expressed 
a  desire  to  try  his  hand  at  writing  an  article  on  temper- 
ance. Mr.  Wood  encouraged  him,  and  the  article  was 
written.  Aaron  Farmer,  a  noted  minister  of  the  United 
Brethren  Church,  often  stopped  with  Mr.  Wood,  who 
was  a  zealous  and  devoted  member  of  the  same  church. 
^fr.  Hemdon  and  other  Lincoln  biographers  are  mis- 
taken in  saying  that  Aaron  Farmer  was  a  minister  of 
the  Baptist  Church.  Henry  Brooner  told  me  that  he 
joined  the  United  Brethren  Church  at  a  grove  meeting 

51 


Footprints  of  Ahraham  Lincoln 

held  in  that  part  of  the  country  by  Aaron  Farmer,  in 
the  fall  of  1827. 

Lincoln's  temperance  article  was  shown  Mr.  Farmer 
by  Mr.  Wood,  and  he  was  so  well  pleased  with  it  that 
he  sent  it  to  an  Ohio  paper,  in  which  it  was  published. 
Lincoln,  at  this  time,  was  seventeen  or  eighteen  years 
old.  I  was  acquainted  with  James,  Andrew,  Kobert, 
and  Charles,  aged  sons  of  William  Wood,  all  of  whom 
knew  Lincoln.  They  have  all  passed  away.  In  the  year 
1888,  I  officiated  at  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Nancy  Arm- 
strong, one  of  Mr.  Wood's  daughters,  at  her  home, 
which  was  the  old  home  of  her  father,  where  Lincoln 
was  always  a  welcome  visitor.  William  L.  Wood,  a 
grandson  of  Lincoln's  adviser,  now  living  at  Dale,  and 
whom  I  have  known  for  many  years,  says  his  grand- 
father was  a  temperance  worker. 

Mr.  Farmer  had  a  literary  turn  of  mind,  and  pub- 
lished a  paper  called  Zion's  Advocate,  at  Salem,  Indi- 
ana, in  1829,  but  this  was  about  two  years  after  Lin- 
coln's temperance  article  was  written.  The  United 
Brethren  Church  organ,  the  Religious  Telescope,  now 
published  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  was  first  published  at  Circle- 
ville,  Ohio,  in  1834,  but  this  was  still  later.  Query: 
In  what  paper  in  Ohio  was  Lincoln's  temperance  article 
printed?  Mr.  Farmer  died  March  1,  1839,  while  serv- 
ing as  presiding  elder  of  the  Indianapolis  District. 
William  Wood,  Lincoln's  old  friend  and  adviser,  died 
at  Dale,  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  December  28,  1867, 
at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  been  charged  with  selling  whisky 
at  New  Salem,  Illinois.  Let  us  examine  the  facts  and 
his  own  statement.  In  1833,  he  and  Mr.  Berry  bought 
out  three  groceries  in  New  Salem.     Beriy  was  a  drink- 

52 


Lincoln's  Temperance  Principles 

ing  man  and  not  a  suitable  partner  for  Lincoln.  At 
that  time  grocery  stores  usually  kept  whisky  on  sale,  so 
the  firm  had  quite  a  stock  of  whisky  on  hand,  along 
with  other  commodities.  Drinking  was  common  then. 
Even  some  ministers  of  the  gospel  would  take  their 
"dram."  It  appeal's  that  Lincoln  trusted  Berr}^  to  run 
the  business.  It  is  doubtful  if  Lincoln  himself  sold 
whisky,  although  his  name  was  connected  with  the  firm. 
The  firm  failed.  Berry  died,  leaving  Lincoln  the  debts 
to  pay. 

Mr.  Douglas,  in  his  debates  with  Lincoln,  twitted 
him  as  having  been  a  "grocer}-  keeper''  and  selling 
whisky.  In  replying,  Lincoln  jokingly  said  Mr.  Doug- 
las was  one  of  his  best  customers,  and  said  he  had  left 
his  side  of  the  counter,  while  Douglas  stuck  to  his  side 
as  tenaciously  as  ever.  When  Lincoln  laid  aside  his 
jokes  he  declared  that  he  never  sold  whisky  in  his  life. 
(See  Chapter  IX.) 

Mr.  Lincoln  often  "preached"  what  he  called  his 
"sermon  to  boj^s,"  as  follows:  "Don't  drink,  don't 
gamble,  don't  smoke,  don't  lie,  don't  cheat.  Love  your 
fellow-men,  love  God,  love  truth,  love  virtue,  and  be 
happy." 

On  the  22d  of  Februar\%  1842,  he  made  a  strong 
address  before  the  Washingtonian  Temperance  Society, 
in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, in  wliich  he  said:  "Whether  or  not  the  world 
would  be  vastly  benefited  by  a  total  and  final  banish- 
ment from  it  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  seems  to  me  not 
now  an  open  question.  Three-fourths  of  mankind  con- 
fess the  affirmative  with  their  tongues,  and,  I  believe, 
all  the  rest  acknowledge  it  in  their  hearts." 

53 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Leonard  Swett,  who,  for  eleven  years  was  associated 
with  Lincoln  in  law  in  the  Eighth  Judicial  District  of 
Illinois,  said,  "Lincoln  never  tasted  liquor,  never 
chewed  tobacco  or  smoked.'"' 

The  late  Philip  Clark,  of  Mattoon,  Illinois,  an  old- 
time  friend  of  Lincoln,  is  reported  to  have  said :  "We 
were  together  one  night  in  a  country  neighborhood, 
when  some  one  proposed  that  we  all  go  to  church,  close 
b}'',  to  hear  the  Eev.  John  Berry  preach  a  temperance 
sermon.  After  listening  intently,  Abe  remarked  to  me 
that  that  subject  would  some  time  be  one  of  the  greatest 
in  this  country.'' 

In  the  year  1847,  Lincoln  made  a  number  of  temper- 
ance addresses  and  circulated  a  total  abstinence  pledge, 
urging  persons  to  sign  it.  Among  those  who  signed 
the  pledge  presented  by  Mr.  Lincoln  were  Moses  Martin 
and  Cleopas  Breekenridge,  who  are  still  living.  Recently 
I  wrote  to  Mr.  Martin,  asking  him  to  furnish  for  this 
book  a  statement  concerning  his  recollections  of  Lincoln 
and  his  temperance  speech.  He  promptly  answered,  as 
follows : 

"Edinbubg,  Illinois,  January  14,  1909. 
"Mr.  J.  T.  HoBSOx,  Dear  Sir: — I  heard  Abraham  Lincoln 
lecture  on  temperance  In  1847,  at  the  South  Fork  school- 
house.  He  came  out  from  Springrfield.  He  had  gotten  up 
a  pledge.  It  was  called  the  Washingtonian  pledge.  He 
made  a  very  forcible  lecture,  the  first  temperance  lecture 
I  ever  heard,  and  the  first  one  ever  delivered  in  our  neigh- 
borhood. It  was  in  the  grove,  and  a  large  crowd  came  out 
to  hear  the  lecture.  Lincoln  asked  if  any  one  had  anything 
to  say,  for  it  or  against  it,  while  he  circulated  the  pledge, 
he  would  hear  from  them.  My  old  friend,  Preston  Breek- 
enridge, got  up  and  made  a  very  forcible  talk.  He  signed 
the  pledge,  and  all  his  children.  Cleopas  was  his  son. 
Nearly  every  one  there  sigrned  it.    Preston  went  out  lectur- 

54 


Lincoln's  Temperance  Principles 

ing.  I  usually  went  with  him  and  circulated  the  pledge 
copied  after  Abraham  Lincoln's  pledge.  It  read  as  follows: 
'Whereas,  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  is 
t)roductive  of  pauperism,  degradation,  and  crime,  and 
believing  it  is  our  duty  to  discourage  that  which  produces 
more  evil  than  good;  we,  therefore,  pledge  ourselves  to 
abstain  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage.' 
When  I  signed  Lincoln's  pledge  I  was  about  nineteen  years 
old.     I  am  now  eighty  years  old. 

"Moses  Martin." 

At  my  request,  Mr.  Martin  kindly  sent  his  picture 
for  this  book.  Cleopas  Breckenridge,  who  is  referred 
to  in  Mr.  Martin's  letter,  is  living,  in  his  seventy-third 
year,  at  Custer,  Illinois.  As  he  has  furnished  a  state- 
ment for  other  publications,  he  writes  that  he  prefers 
not  to  furnish  it  again.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that 
he  was  ten  years  old  when  Lincoln,  by  permission,  wrote 
his  name  under  the  pledge,  then  placing  his  hand  on 
the  little  boy's  head,  said,  "Now,  sonny,  you  keep  that 
pledge,  and  it  will  be  the  best  act  of  your  life."  In  his 
long  life,  subject  to  many  temptations,  Mr.  Brecken- 
ridge has  faithfully  kept  his  pledge  made  at  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's temperance  meeting. 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1863,  in  response  to  an 
address  from  the  Sons  of  Temperance  in  Washington, 
President  Lincoln  said: 

"If  I  were  better  known  than  I  am,  you  would  not  need 
to  be  told  that,  in  the  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  temperance 
you  have  a  friend  and  a  sympathizer  in  me.  When  I  was 
a  young  man — long  ago — before  the  Sons  of  Temperance 
as  an  organization  had  an  existence,  I,  in  a  humble  way, 
made  temperance  speeches,  and  I  think  I  may  say  that  to 
this  day  I  have  never,  by  my  example,  belied  what  I  then 
said.  ...  I  think  the  reasonable  men  of  the  world  have 
long  since  agreed  that  intemperance  is  one  of  the  greatest, 

55 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

if  not  the  very  greatest,  of  all  evils  among  mankind.  This 
is  not  a  matter  of  dispute,  I  believe.  That  the  disease 
exists,  and  that  it  is  a  very  great  one,  is  agreed  upon  by 
all.  The  mode  of  cure  is  one  about  which  there  may  be 
differences  of  opinion." 

It  is  true  that  President  Lincoln,  during  the  awful 
pressure  of  the  Civil  War,  signed  the  Internal  Revenue 
Bill,  (H.  R.,  No.  312,)  to  raise  money  from  various 
sources  to  support  the  Government,  among  which  was 
the  licensing  of  retail  dealers  in  intoxicating  liquors. 
This  bill  was  warmly  discussed.  Some  years  ago,  I 
read  these  discussions  in  the  "'Congressional  Record," 
of  May  27,  1862.  Senators  Wilson,  Pomeroy,  Harris, 
and  Wilmot  opposed  the  licensing  of  the  sale  of  intoxi- 
cants in  the  strongest  manner.  Mr.  Lincoln  threatened 
to  veto  the  bill,  but,  as  a  war  measure,  and,  acting  under 
dire  necessity,  with  the  assurance  that  the  bill  would  be 
repealed  when  the  war  was  over,  he  reluctantly  signed 
the  bill,  July  1,  1862.  Up  to  this  time,  however,  the 
bill  has  never  been  repealed.  There  have  been  some 
changes  made,  among  which  the  word  "license"  was 
changed  to  "special  tax,"  but  the  import  is  practically 
the  same. 


56 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitionist 

Major  J.  B.  Merwin  and  Abraham  Lincoln — They  Together  Can- 
vass Illinois  for  State  Prohibition  in  1854-55 — Lincoln's  Argu- 
ments Against  the  Saloon — Facts  Omitted  by  Lincoln's 
Biographers — President  Lincoln,  Generals  Scott  and  Butler 
Recommend  Merwin's  Temperance  Work  in  the  Army — The 
President  Sends  Merwin  on  a  Mission  to  New  York  the  Day 
of  the  Assassination — Proposition  for  Freedmen  to  Dig  Pan- 
ama Oanal^ — Lincoln's  Last  Words  to  Merwin — Merwin's  Char- 
acteristic Address  at  Lincoln's  Tomb — "Lincoln,  the  Christian 
Statesman  " — Mei-win  Living  at  Middlefield,  Connecticut. 

It  will,  no  doubt,  be  of  interest  to  here  introduce  a 
man  wlio,  perhaps,  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  as  well  as  any 
man  now  living.  It  is  Major  J.  B.  Merwin,  of  Middle- 
field,  Connecticut,  who  is  now  eighty  years  old.  He  is 
a  noted  educator  and  lecturer.  He  formerly  resided  in 
St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  was  the  founder  of  "The 
American  Journal  of  Education,"  in  that  city  in  1867. 
Since  tliat  time  he  has  written  much  and  lectured 
widely  on  educational  and  literary  subjects. 

Learning  of  his  associations  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  that 
they  together  campaigned  the  State  of  Illinois  for  State 
prohibition  in  1854-55,  I  wrote  Mr.  Merw^in  for  some 
items  relative  to  his  acquaintance  and  associations  with 
the  great  emancipator.     In  his  reply,  Mr.  Mervrin  said : 

"I  mail  you  a  very  brief  resume  of  my  connection  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  from  1854  on,  up  to  the  day  he  was  assassin- 
ated. This  will  answer  your  query  and  request,  I  think, 
fully.  Of  course  the  address  made  at  the  tomb  of  the 
great,  dear  man,  on  May  26,  1904,  was  greatly  abridged  for 
lack  of  space,  but  many  essential  points  you  will  be  able 
to  gather  from  what  1  send  you.  And  I  am  glad  to  do  this, 
for  nearly  all  his  biographers  ignore  both  his  prohibition 
and  his  religions  work  and  character." 

57 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

From  what  Mr.  Merwin  furnished,  as  stated  in  his 
letter,  the  following  facts  are  here  presented : 

Mr.  Merwin,  then  a  young  man,  was  a  temperance 
lecturer  in  Connecticut,  in  1851,  during  which  year  he 
and  Neal  Dow  both  addressed  the  legislature  in  behalf 
of  State  prohibition.  A  resident  of  Springfield,  Illinois, 
then  visiting  in  Hartford,  being  interested  in  the  ques- 
tion, gained  admittance  to  this  legislative  session,  and 
was  much  pleased  -\nth  Mr.  Merwin's  presentation  of 
the  subject.  He  afterward  took  it  upon  himself  to 
invite  Mr.  Merwin  to  visit  Springfield  and  deliver  the 
same  address  before  the  Illinois  Legislature.  The  invi- 
tation was  accepted,  and  the  following  winter  Mr. 
Merwin  began  a  temperance  campaign  in  Illinois.  His 
first  address  was  made  at  the  capital.  At  this  time  the 
legislature  was  considering  the  submission  of  the  pro- 
hibition question  to  the  people,  and  as  the  question  met 
with  great  opposition  from  the  leaders  of  the  two  politi- 
cal parties,  who  feared  to  jeopardize  the  liq\ior  interests, 
the  speaker  from,  the  East  was  not  permitted  to  address 
the  legislature  as  a  body,  and  spoke  instead  in  the 
representative  hall. 

It  Avas  at  this  meeting  that  he  first  met  Lincoln,  who 
Avas  immediately  touched  by  the  young  speaker's  words 
and  enthusiastically  accepted  his  message.  Mr.  Lincoln 
invit-ed  Mr.  Merwin  home  with  him  that  night,  but, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  character  of  the  man,  Mr. 
Merwin  asked  the  advice  of  a  friend,  who  said,  "Most 
certainly,  if  Mr.  Lincoln  invites  you,  go."  Mr.  Merwin 
says :  "We  were  barely  inside  his  door,  and  even  before 
he  asked  me  to  be  seated,  he  wanted  to  know  if  I  had 
a  copy  of  the  Maine  law  with  me.  I  had,  and  we  spent 
until  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  discussing  its   fea- 

58 


Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitioimi 

tures."  llie  matter  of  a  prohibition  canvass  was  out- 
lined, and  Mr.  Lincoln  volunteered  to  put  the  whole 
matter  before  Richard  Yates,  afterwards  Illinois'  war 
governor,  but  who  was  then  Grand  Worthy  Patriarch  of 
the  Sons  of  Temperance.  Mr.  Yates  was  quick  to  see 
the  strength  of  the  new  idea,  and  himself  arranged  the 
first  series  of  rallies  where  Lincoln  and  Merwin  spoke. 

The  meeting  at  Jacksonville  was  presided  over  by 
Eichard  Yates.  Among  the  places  at  which  they  spoke 
were  Belhille,  Bloomington,  Peoria,  Edwardsville,  and 
Decatur.  Mr.  Lincoln's  political  friends  were  alarmed 
for  him  because  of  his  radicalism  on  the  temperance 
question,  and  made  a  combined  effort  to  silence  him, 
but  he  continued  in  the  fight. 

Prohibition  did  not  carry  in  its  submission  to  the 
people,  but  it  is  said  that  the  votes  of  forty  counties 
were  changed  in  favor  of  State  prohibition. 

After  the  campaign  of  1854-55,  Mr.  Merwin's  friend- 
ship with  Lincoln  continued  without  a  break  up  to  the 
latter's  assassination.  Soon  after  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  Mr.  Merwin's  unceasing  advocacy  of  the 
great  reform  won  him  personal  recognition,  and  it  was 
suggested  by  prominent  military  men  that  he  should 
be  officially  appointed,  and  be  permitted  the  freedom 
of  the  camps  in  the  interests  of  personal  temperanct; 
work,  need  of  which  was  widely  evident.  What  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  and  Generals  Scott  and  Butler  wrote  on 
the  back  of  the  recommendation,  as  endorsements,  is 
here  given.    Mr.  Merwin  has  the  original  manuscript: 

"If  it  be  ascertained  at  the  War  Department  that  the 
President  has  legal  authority  to  make  an  appointment  such 
as  is  asked  within,  and  Gen.  Scott  is  of  opinion  it  will  be 
available  for  good,  then  let  it  be  done. 

"July  17,  1861.  A.  Lincoln." 

59 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

"1  esteem  the  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  to  this  army  a 
happy  circumstance,  and  request  all  commanders  to  give 
him  free  access  to  all  our  camps  and  posts,  and  also  to 
multiply  occasions  to  enable  him  to  address  our  officers 
and  men.  Winfield  Scott, 

"July  24,  1861.  Department  of  Virginia." 

"The  mission  of  Mr.  Merwin  will  be  of  great  benefit  to 
the  troops,  and  I  will  furnish  him  with  every  facility  to 
address  the  troops  under  my  command.  I  hope  the  Gen'l 
commanding  the  army  will  give  him  such  official  position 
as  Mr.  Merwin  may  desire  to  carry  out  his  object. 

"August  8,  1861.  B.  F.  Butler,  Maj-Oen.  Com'd'g." 

The  testimonial  to  the  warm  appreciation  of  Mr. 
Merwin's  iisefnlness  in  the  army  as  a  temperance  worker 
is  signed  by  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  0.  H.  Browning,  Charles 
Sumner,  Alexander  W.  Kandall,  W.  A.  Buckingham, 
Richard  Yates,  James  Harlan,  Alexander  Ramsey,  A.  B. 
Palmer,  John  F.  Potter,  J.  L.  Scripps,  Lyman  Trum- 
bull, Henry  Wilson,  J.  R.  Doolittle,  Austin  Blair, 
Thomas  Drummond,  James  W.  Grimes,  Samuel  J. 
Kirkwood,  Timothy  0.  Howe,  David  Wilmot,  and  more 
than  one  hundred  others.  They  comprise  those  of  gov- 
ernors, senators,  congressmen,  and  postmasters. 

In  1862,  President  Lincoln  again  wrote  a  special 
order  to  facilitate  his  work  at  the  front,  as  follows,  the 
original  still  being  in  Mr.  Merwin's  possession : 

"Surgeon  General  will  send  Mr.  Merwin  wherever  he 
may  think  the  public  service  may  require. 

"July  24,  1862.  A.  Lincoln." 

Throughout  the  war  IMr.  Mei*win  was  in  close  per- 
sonal touch  with  the  nation's  executive,  and  had  n 
passport,  given  him  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  which  admitted 
him   to  the  White  House  at   any  time,  day  or  night, 


Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitionist 

except  during  the  session  of  the  cabinet.  On  the  day 
of  his  assassination  the  President  had  Mr.  Merwin  to 
dine  with  him,  and  tliat  afternoon  sent  him  on  an 
important  mission  to  New  York. 

It  will  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  many  to  know  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  looked  very  favorably  upon  a  proposal  that 
had  been  made  for  the  excavation  and  completion  of  the 
Panama  Canal  by  means  of  the  labor  of  the  freedmen. 
Those  close  to  the  President  at  the  time  were  aware 
of  the  fact  that  he  favored  the  plan,  and  it  was  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  the  views  of  Horace  Greeley,  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  and  other  molders  of  public 
thought,  in  regard  to  the  plan,  that  he  called  Major 
Merwin  to  the  Whit<?  House  on  the  fatal  Friday,  April 
14,  1865,  the  day  that  he  was  shot.  x\fter  the  Presi- 
dent had  explained  this  business  to  Mr.  Merwin,  perhaps 
recalling  again  those  stirring  times  ten  yeai's  before, 
when  he  had  campaigned  with  him,  he  said,  ""'After 
reconstruction,  the  next  great  question  wall  be  the  over- 
throw of  the  liquor  traffic.'' 

That  evening  Mr.  Merwin  was  on  his  way  to  New 
York,  and  the  following  morning,  as  he  stepped  from 
the  train  in  that  city,  he  heard  the  terrible  news  of  the 
assassination  at  Ford's  Theater,  the  night  before. 

Mr.  ^Merwin  says  that  Mr.  Lincoln  talked  freely  with 
him  on  the  overthrow  of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  it  is  his 
strong  conviction  that  if  his  life  had  been  spared,  even 
a  decade,  he  would  have  emphasized  his  lifelong  devo- 
tion to  the  temperance  cause  with  an  open  and  decisive 
championship  of  State  and  National  prohibition.  The 
slavery  issue  had  come  unforeseen  into  his  life  and 
swept  liim  heart  and  soul  into  the  very  vortex  of  that 
terrific  struggle.     As  he  oft^n  expressed  it,  "there  must 

61 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

be  one  war  at  a  time,"  and  the  one  that  called  him  first 
was  not  of  his  own  choosing  in  point  of  order. 

The  abridged  address  on  "Lincoln  as  a  Prohibition- 
ist," delivered  by  Major  Merwin  at  the  Lincoln  Monu- 
ment, at  Springfield,  Illinois,  May  26,  1904,  which  he 
furnished  for  this  book,  is  here  given.  It  was  printed 
in  the  New  Voice,  Chicago,  June  16,  1904,  to  which  I 
am  indebted  for  a  number  of  the  foregoing  items,  some 
of  which  were  marked  by  Major  Merwin  with  a  blue 
pencil. 

After  a  brief  introduction  by  Mr.  Alonzo  Wilson, 
chairman  of  the  State  Prohibition  Committee,  Mr.  Mer- 
win, standing  on  one  of  the  steps  of  the  stairway  of  the 
monument,  with  a  beautiful  flag  covering  a  part  of  the 
balustrade,  said : 

"We  stand  to-day  in  the  heart  of  the  continent,  midway 
between  the  two  oceans,  within  the  shadow  of  the  monu- 
ment of  the  man  who  made  more  history — who  made 
greater  history  than  any  other  person,  than  all  other  per- 
sons who  lived  in  the  nineteenth  century!  A  leader  of  the 
people,  who  was  great  in  their  greatness,  who  carried  their 
burdens,  who,  with  their  help,  achieved  a  name  and  a  fame 
unparalleled  in  human  history.  He  broke  the  shackles  of 
four  millions  of  slaves.  He  saved  to  the  world  this  form 
of  government,  which  gives  to  all  our  people  the  oppor- 
tunity to  walk,  if  they  will,  down  the  corridors  of  time, 
arm  in  arm  with  the  great  of  all  ages,  sheltered  and  in- 
spired by  the  flag  which  has  become  the  symbol  of  hope 
and  of  freedom  to  all  the  world! 

"In  God's  good  providence,  I  came  to  know  him — here  in 
his  humble  home  in  Springfield,  in  1854,  and  before  he  had 
come  to  be  the  hero,  beloved,  glorified,  known  and  loved 
by  all  who  love  liberty.  It  was  in  the  autumn  of  1854. 
I  was  a  young  man  full  of  all  the  enthusiasm  of  those  first 
Neal  Dow  triumphs  in  New  England.  Accepting  the  invi- 
tation of  friends,  I  came  to  Hlinois,  where  the  campaign 

62 


Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitionist 

for  State  prohibition  was  getting  under  way.  I  reached 
Springfield,  and  one  night  had  the  privilege  of  speaking  in 
the  old  State  House,  where,  with  legislators  and  towns- 
people, I  found  an  appreciative  audience. 

"After  my  address,  there  were  calls  of  'Lincoln!  Lincoln! 
Lincoln!'  and  turning,  I  saw,  perhaps,  the  most  singular 
specimen  of  a  human  being  rising  slowly,  and  unfolding 
his  long  arms  and  his  long  legs,  exactly  like  the  blades  of 
a  jack-knife.  His  hair  was  uncombed,  his  coat  sleeves  were 
inches  shorter  than  his  shirt  sleeves,  his  trousers  did  not 
reach  to  his  socks.  First  I  thought  there  was  some  plan 
to  perpetrate  a  'joke'  on  the  meeting,  but  in  one  minute, 
after  the  first  accents  of  the  pathetic  voice  were  heard,  the 
crowd  hushed  to  a  stillness  as  profound  as  if  Lincoln  were 
the  only  person  present,  and  then  this  simple,  uncouth 
man  gave  to  the  hushed  crowd  such  a  definition  of  law,  its 
design  and  mission,  its  object  and  power,  such  as  few 
present  had  ever  known  or  dreamed.  Among  the  points 
he  made  were  the  following: 

"Mr.  Lincoln  asked,  'Is  not  the  law  of  self-protection  the 
first  law  of  nature;  the  first  primary  law  of  civilized 
society?'  'Law,'  he  declared,  'is  for  the  protection,  con- 
servation, and  extension  of  right  things,  of  right  conduct; 
not  for  the  protection  of  evil  and  wrong-doing.' 

"  'The  State  must,  in  its  legislative  action,  recognize  in 
the  law  enacted  this  principle — it  must  make  sure  and 
secure  these  endeavors  to  establish,  protect,  and  extend 
right  conditions,  right  conduct,  righteousness.  These  con- 
ditions will  be  secured  and  preserved,  not  by  indifference, 
not  by  a  toleration  of  evils,  not  by  attempting  to  throw 
around  any  evil  the  shield  of  law;  never  by  any  attempt 
to  license  the  evil.' 

"  'This  sentiment  of  right  conduct  for  the  protection  of 
home,  of  state,  of  church,  of  individuals  must  be  taken  up 
and  embodied  in  legislation,  and  thus  become  a  positive 
factor,  active  in  the  state.  This  is  the  first  and  most 
important  function  in  the  legislation  of  the  modern  state.' 
Proceeding,  Mr.  Lincoln  said:  'This  saves  the  whole,  and 
not  a  part,  with  a  high,  true  conservatism  through  the 
united  action  of  all,  by  all,  for  all.     The  prohibition  of  the 

63 


Footprints  of  AhraJiam  Lincoln 

liquor  traffic,  except  for  medical  and  mechanical  purposes, 
thus  becomes  the  new  evangel  for  the  safety  and  redemp- 
tion of  the  people  from  the  social,  political,  and  moral 
curse  of  the  saloon,  and  its  inevitable  evil  consequences  of 
drunkenness.' 

"Lincoln  studied  every  moral  and  political  issue  in  this 
light  and  from  this  standpoint,  and,  as  a  result  of  this 
practice,  he  studied  the  opposite  side  of  every  question  in 
dispute,  and  hence  he  was  never  surprised  by  the  seeming 
strength  of  his  opponents,  for  he  saw  at  once  the  moral 
and  legal  weakness  of  wrong  and  untenable  positions 
assumed.  This  it  is  that  throws  a  flood  of  light  on  his 
ready  and  unanswerable  repartee  by  story  and  statement. 
In  fact,  we  have  seen,  often,  that  after  his  statement  of  a 
proposition  it  needed  no  argument. 

"Honorable  Elihu  B.  Washburn,  Lincoln's  closest  friend, 
wrote  before  he  died  that  'when  the  whole  truth  is  dis- 
closed of  Mr.  Lincoln's  life  during  the  years  of  1854-55,  it 
will  throw  a  flood  of  new  light  on  the  character  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  will  add  new  luster  to  his  greatness  and  his 
patriotism.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  had,  as  is  well  known,  made  up  his  mind 
to  retire  from  the  political  arena.  He  was  annoyed,  yea, 
more,  he  was  disgusted  with  the  low  plane  on  which  the 
politicians,  mere  politicians,  not  statesmen,  were  trying  to 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  feeling  his  way  up  and  out  of  the 
gloom,  despondency,  and  melancholy  which  had  to  so  great 
an  extent  affected  his  life.  There  came  to  him  a  new  light, 
a  new  revelation  of  destiny  in  those  still  creative,  or  rather 
recreative  days,  and  it  is  this  phase  of  things  to  which  Mr. 
Washburn  refers  in  the  above  lines. 

"It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Mr.  Lincoln  hesitated  to 
show  his  strength  of  conscience,  as  he  did  his  wealth  of 
goodness,  lest  it  be  counted  as  ostentation.  He  said  often 
in  1854-55,  'The  saloon  and  the  liquor  traffic  have  defend- 
ers— but  no  defense!'  With  him  men  were  neither  great 
nor  small — they  were  right  or  wrong.  He  knew  no  fear 
except  the  fear  of  doing  wrong.  His  expressions  and  con- 
duct on  this  question  of  the  prohibition  of  the  liquor  traffic 

64 


THE   LIXCOLN-BROOXER   GUN, 

Owned  jointly   hy  Abraham   Lincoln   and  Henry   Brooner  in   Indiana. 

Kow  owned  tiy  John  E.  Burton,  Lake  Geneva,  Wisconsin. 


RUTH    JEXXINGS    HUFF, 
Daughter  of  Josiah  Crawford,  for  tvhoni 
Lincoln   often   laiored  as   hired   hand 
in  Indiana. 


Mr.    Tiirnham, 


DAVID    TURNHAM    AND    WIFE. 

as   Consitahlc,   loaned  Lincoln    the  Revised   Statutes   of 


Indiana,  the  first  luic-hook  he  ever  studied. 


Lincohi  as  a  Prohibitionist 

and  the  saloon  were  so  firmly  anchored  on  his  profound 
convictions  of  right  and  wrong  that  they  were  immutable. 

"In  that  memorable  canvass,  Mr.  Lincoln  and  myself 
spoke  in  Jacksonville,  in  Bloomington,  in  Decatur,  in  Dan- 
ville, in  Carlinville,  in  Peoria,  and  at  many  other  points. 

"The  gist  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  argument  was  contained  in 
this  fearless  declaration: 

"  'This  legalized  liquor  traffic,  as  carried  on  in  the  saloons 
and  grogshops,  is  the  tragedy  of  civilization.  Good  citizen- 
ship demands  and  requires  that  what  is  right  should  not 
only  be  made  known,  but  be  made  prevalent;  that  what  is 
evil  should  not  only  be  detected  and  defeated,  but  destroyed. 
The  saloon  has  proved  itself  to  be  the  greatest  foe,  the 
most  blighting  curse  of  our  modern  civilization,  and  this 
is  why  I  am  a  practical  prohibitionist. 

"  "We  must  not  be  satisfied  until  the  public  sentiment 
of  this  State,  and  the  individual  conscience  shall  be  in- 
structed to  look  upon  the  saloon-keeper  and  the  liquor- 
seller,  with  all  the  license  each  can  give  him,  as  simply 
and  only  a  privileged  malefactor — a  criminal.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln  used,  in  advocating  the  entire  prohibition 
of  the  liquor  traffic,  nearly  the  same  language,  and  in  many 
instances  the  same  illustrations  that  he  used  later  on  in 
his  arguments  against  slavery.     At  another  place  he  said: 

"  'The  real  issue  in  this  controversy,  the  one  pressing 
upon  every  mind  that  gives  the  subject  careful  considera 
tion,  is  ihat  legalizing  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  is  a  wrong — as  all  his- 
tory and  every  development  of  the  traffic  proves  it  to  be — a 
moral,  social,  and  political  wrong.' 

"It  should  be  stated  distinctly,  squarely,  and  fairly,  and 
repeated  often,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  practical  total  absti- 
nence man:  wrote  for  it,  worked  for  it,  taught  it,  both  by 
precept  and  by  example;  and  when,  from  a  long  and  varied 
experience,  he  found  that  the  greed  and  selfishness  of  the 
liquor-dealers  and  the  saloon-keepers  overleaped  and  dis- 
regarded all  barriers  and  every  other  restraint,  and  taught 
by  the  lessons  of  experience  that  nothing  short  of  the 
entire  prohibition  of  the  traffic  and  the  saloon  would  settle 
the  question,  he  became  an  earnest,  unflinching  prohibi- 
tionist. 

65 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

"It  has  been  said  by  those  most  competent  to  judge,  that 
Mr.  Lincoln  surpassed  all  orators  in  eloquence,  all  diplo- 
mats in  wisdom,  all  statesmen  in  foresight,  and  this  makes 
him  and  his  name  a  power  not  to  be  resisted  as  a  political 
prohibitionist. 

"We  do  not  say  much  about  it,  for  it  is  not  necessary, 
but  there  were  times  and  occasions  when  Mr.  Lincoln  came 
to  be,  in  his  administration,  greater  than  law — when  his 
wisdom  was  greater  than  the  combined  wisdom  of  all  the 
people.  The  people,  the  law-makers  had  never  compre- 
hended the  conditions  and  the  situation  that  confronted 
him.  He  was  as  great  as  necessity,  and  our  safety  lay  in 
the  fact  that  he  was  as  just  as  he  was  great,  and  as  wise 
as  he  was  just.    Great  in  law,  but  greater  in  necessity. 

"God  be  praised  for  the  great  gifts  he  showered  upon 
him;  God  be  praised  for  the  generous  use  he  made  of 
them.  In  the  radiance  of  God's  light  and  in  the  sunshine 
of  his  love  from  out  the  gates  of  pearl  which  were  swung 
inward  to  his  entrance  by  those  who  waited  to  welcome  him 
thither,  there  opened  to  him  that  vast  and  bright  eternity, 
vivid  with  God's  love.  We  could  wish  for  a  moment  the 
veil  might  be  parted  and  we,  too,  could  have  vision  that 
such  labor  shall  be  crowned  with  immortal  rest.  Hail, 
brother,  and  farewell." 

In  a  letter  to  me,  of  late  date,  Major  Merwin  writes : 

"None  of  us  can  get  too  many  views  of  the  good  and 
great  Lincoln,  and  the  world  grows  better  for  all  we 
know,  or  can  learn  of  him.  ...  I  spoke  in  New  Haven 
last  Sunday  evening  in  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the 
old  college  town.  The  house  w^as  packed  with  Yale  stu- 
dents and  others.  The  subject  was,  'Lincoln,  the  Christian 
Statesman,'  emphasizing  the  religious  phase  of  the  man, 
much  to  the  surprise  of  many  present.  This  was  the  real 
source  of  hi«  strength.  He  was  larger  than  any  or  all  so- 
called  'denominations,'  and  yet  a  multitude  find  both  com- 
fort and  strength  in  these  various  divisions,  and  Lincoln's 
heart  was  glad  it  was  so." 

66 


Lincoln  as  a  Prohibitionist 

It  should  have  been  stated,  in  connection  with  Mr. 
Merwin's  temperance  record  in  the  army,  that  General 
Winlield  Scott,  after  hearing  several  addresses  made  by 
Mr.  Merwin  from  President  Lincoln's  carriage,  to  the 
regiments  gathering  in  Washington,  said  to  the  Presi- 
dent, "A  man  of  such  force  and  moral  power  to  inspire 
courage,  patriotism,  faith,  and  obedience  among  the 
troops  is  worth  more  than  a  half-dozen  regiments  of  raw 
recruits." 

As  before  stated,  Mr.  Merwin  is  now  in  his  eightieth 
year,  and  resides  at  Middlefield,  Connecticut.  In  his 
last  letter  to  me,  dated  January  14,  1909,  referring  to 
the  above  paragraph,  he  says,  *'I  am  not  now  equal  to 
6,000  men,  but  am  able  to  tell  the  story  of  the  plain, 
great  man,  whose  name  is  now,  and  ever  will  be  a  glory 
on  the  nation's  brow." 


67 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question 

An  Ancient  Institution — Tlie  Evils  of  Slavery — Lincoln  Always 
Opposed  to  Slavery — Uelic  of  "Cruel  Slavery  Days" — -Discus- 
sions, Laws,  and  Compromises — Tlie  Missouri  Compromise — 
The  Fugitive  Slave  Law — The  Kansas-Nebi-aska  Bill — Lincoln 
Aroused — He  Answers  Etouglas — K.  L.  McCord  Names  Lincoln 
His  Candidate  for  President — A  New  Political  Party — "Bleed- 
ing Kansas" — The  Dred  Scott  Decision — "The  Underground 
Railroad" — The  John   Brown   Raid — The  Approaching  Crisis. 

It  may  be  wondered  wliat  future  generations  will 
think  when  they  read  tlie  history  of  our  country  and 
learn  that  within  the  memory  of  many  of  those  who 
now  live  this  Government  tolerated  and  protected  that 
"sum  of  all  villainies" — human  sla.ver\^  Slavery  arose 
at  an  early  period  in  the  world's  history  out  of  the  acci- 
dent of  capture  in  war.  As  an  institution  it  has  existed 
in  many  countries  for  ages.  Unfortunately,  in  the  first 
settling  of  the  United  States,  slavery  was  tolerated,  and 
allowed  to  spread  as  the  country  developed.  This  was 
especially  true  of  the  Southern  States. 

The  many  attendant  evils  of  slavery  cannot  here  be 
mentioned.  Slaves  were  largely  kept  in  ignorance.  In 
some  States  it  was  considered  a  crime,  with  heavy  pen- 
alties, for  any  white  person  to  teach  a  colored  person  to 
read  or  write. 

The  traffic  in  human  beings,  as  it  then  existed,  is 
awful  to  think  of.  Husbands  and  wives,  parents  and 
children,  brothers  and  sisters  were  often  sold  and  sep- 
arated never  to  meet  again.  When  the  master  died,  his 
negroes  were  sold  to  the  highest  bidder,  just  like  other 
property. 

68 


Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question 

Abraham  Lincoln  was  always  opposed  to  slavery. 
When  a  young  man  he  witnessed  the  cruelties  of  a  slave 
market  in  New  Orleans,  where  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren were  sold  like  brutes.  He  then  and  there  said,  "If 
I  ever  have  a  chance  to  hit  that  institution,  I  will  hit  it 
hard."  In  1837,  when  he  was  only  twenty-eight  years 
old,  he  heard  a  sermon  preached  by  a  noted  minister,  in 
Illinois,  on  the  interpretation  of  prophecy  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  breaking  down  of  civil  and  religious  tyranny. 
The  sermon  greatly  impressed  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  he  at 
that  time  said  to  a  friend,  "Odd  as  it  may  seem,  when 
ho  described  those  changes  and  revolutions,  I  was  deeply 
iiupressed  that  I  would  be  somehow  strangely  mixed  up 
with  them." 

Many  slaveholders  were  otherwise  good  people,  and 
their  slaves  were  well  treated.  Ministers  of  the  gospel 
and  church-members  held  slaves.  Some  of  the  author's 
TuatemaJ  relatives  were  slaveholders.  He  remembers, 
wlien  a  small  boy,  during  "cruel  slavery  days,"  hearing 
his  grandfather  relate  a  conversation  be  had  with  a  slave 
while  on  a  late  visit  to  his  slaveholding  brothers  in 
Kentucky.  The  slave,  a  young  man,  was  entering  some 
complaint  against  slavery.  Grandfather  asked  him,  "Is 
your  master  kind  to  you?"  "Yes,  sir,"  answered  the 
slave.  "Do  you  have  plenty  to  eat  and  wear?"  "Oh, 
yes,  sir."  "Then  why  are  you  not  satisfied  ?"  "Oh,  Mr. 
Todd,  freedom,  freedom." 

I  have  a  letter,  dated  June  2,  1861,  written  to  my 
grandfather  by  one  of  his  Kentucky  brothers.  I  remem- 
ber seeing  this  great  uncle  in  1865,  when  he  was  visiting 
in  Indiana.  He  had  administered  on  a  brother's  estate. 
The  letter  contains  the  following :  "You  wrote  to  know 
what  I  had  done  with  the  negroes.     I  sold  them  last 

69 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

March,  one  year  ago.  William  Hocker  bought  Dicey 
and  her  youngest  boy  for  $1,100.  Franklin  Todd,  the 
son  of  brother  Peter,  bought  the  oldest  boy  for  $700.  I 
bought  the  second  boy,  the  one  bom  when  you  were  here, 
for  $535."  My  great-uncle  says,  in  the  same  letter, 
that,  on  account  of  governmental  affairs,  "property"  is 
not  bringing  its  full  value. 

The  people  of  the  North  were  generally  opposed  to 
slaver}',  and  great  bitterness  of  feeling  was  engendered 
between  the  Northern  and  Southern  States.  Among 
the  great  leaders  in  the  anti-slaver}'  movement  were 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Gerrit  Smith,  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, John  G.  Whittier,  Joshua  R.  Giddings,  William 
H.  Seward,  and  Charles  Sumner.  The  institution  of 
slavery  had  become  a  great  power,  and  had  interwoven 
itself  into  the  social,  moral,  religious,  and  political 
fabrics  of  the  countr}'. 

Whenever  a  territor}'  sought  admission  into  the 
Union  as  a  State,  a  great  controversy  arose  aa  to  whether 
it  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  or  a  slave  State.  The 
halls  of  Congress  resounded  with  the  eloquence  of  great 
statesmen  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  because  "there 
were  giants  in  those  days."  A  good  portion  of  the  time 
of  Congress  was  taken  in  discussing  some  phase  of  the 
slavery  question.  Bad  temper  was  often  exhibited,  and 
great  interests  were  at  stake.  On  some  occasions  Henry 
Clay  would  propose  a  compromise,  which  being  accepted, 
would  have  a  tendency  to  lull  the  storm  which,  sooner 
or  later,  was  to  burst  forth  in  all  its  fury.  Anti-slavery, 
abolition,  and  various  organizations  were  formed. 

In  the  North  various  opinions  existed  on  the  subject 
of  slavery.  Some  were  opposed  to  its  extension,  but  did 
not  wish  to  interfere  with  it  where  it  already  existed. 

70 


Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question 

Others  were  more  ultra,  chief  of  whom,  was  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  whose  motto  was  to  destroy  slavery  or 
destroy  the  Union.  He  finally  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  favored  slav- 
ery, and  declared  it  to  be  "a  covenant  with  death  and 
an  agreement  with  hell." 

In  1820  the  territorv'  of  Missouri  sought  admission 
into  the  Union.  The  question  as  to  whether  it  should 
be  admitted  as  a  free  or  a  slave  State  was  so  warmly 
and  violently  discussed  in  Congress  that  many  were 
alarmed  lest  it  would  lead  to  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union.  The  territory  was  finally  admitted  as  a  slave 
State,  but  on  the  express  condition  that  slavery  would 
forever  be  excluded  from  all  that  part  of  the  territory 
of  the  TTnited  States  Ijang  north  of  36  degrees  and  30 
minutes.  This  provision  was  known  as  "the  Missouri 
Compromise." 

In  1850  the  "Fugitive  Slave  Law"  was  passed  by 
Congress,  which  was,  in  part,  to  the  effect  that  it  was  a 
peual  offense  to  render  any  accommodations,  assistance, 
or  show  any  favors  whatever  to  runaway  slaves ;  also 
that  officers  were  empowered  to  compel  citizens,  in  the 
North  as  well  as  in  the  South,  to  assist  in  the  capture 
of  such  slaves. 

As  the  Missouri  Compromise  forever  excluded  slavery 
from  the  northwestern  territories,  the  "forever"  termi- 
nated when  Congress,  in  May,  1854,  passed  the  cele- 
brated Kansas-Nebraska  Bill,  introduced  by  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,  the  Democratic  Senator  from  Illinois.  Its 
main  provision  was  that  each  territory  seeking  admis- 
sion into  the  Union  might  decide  by  vote  of  its  inhabi- 
tants whether  it  should  be  admitted  as  a  free  or  a  slave 
State.     This  virtually  repealed  the  Missouri  Compro- 

71 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

mise,  which  Douglas  had  declared  "to  be  sacred,"  and 
a  law  which  "no  human  hand  should  destroy."  This 
act  was  considered  such  a  flagrant  violation  of  a  tinist, 
breaking  down  all  legal  barriers  to  the  possible  spread 
of  slaveiy,  that  it  aroused  great  indignation  throughout 
the  North. 

Mr.  Lincoln,  just  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Bill,  as  already  stated  by  Mr.  Merwin  in  the 
last  chapter,  had  become  inactive  in  politics,  and  had 
given  himself  more  fully  to  the  practice  of  law.  In 
furnishing  a  sliort  biography  of  himself  for  a  friend,  in 
1859,  he  said,  "I  was  losing  interest  in  politic-s  when 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  aroused  me 
again."  He  now  saw  the  great  danger  of  slavery  enlarg- 
ing its  territory  indefinitely,  and  was  alarmed  at  the 
serious  nature  of  the  situation. 

When  Mr.  Douglas  discovered  the  unpopularity  of  his 
famous  bill,  he  hastened  to  Springfield  and  other  places 
in  Illinois,  to  explain  matters.  On  the  4th  of  October, 
1854,  he  spoke  in  the  State  House  at  the  time  of  the 
State  Fair.  It  was  expected  that  Lyman  Trumbull,  a 
noted  Whig  politician  of  Illinois,  would  ivply,  but  he 
did  not  appear.  Seeing  the  coast  clear,  Mr.  Douglas 
spread  himself,  and  made  a  great  speech.  He  was  small 
in  stature  and  somewhat  bombastic  in  his  style  of  deliv- 
cr)^  He  was  popularly  known  among  his  friends  as  the 
"Little  Giant."  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  urged  to  reply 
to  j\Ir.  Douglas,  and,  after  some  jjersuasion,  consented 
to  do  so.  That  day  he  made  his  first  great  political 
speech.  It  is  stated  that  "all  the  smothered  fires  of  his 
broody  days  and  nights  and  years  burst  forth  in  a  power 
and  with  an  eloquence  which  even  those  who  knew  him 

72 


Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question 

best  liad   not  so  mucli  as  hoped  for."     x\mong  other 
things,  he  said : 

'"My  distinguished  friend,  Douglas,  says  it  is  an  insult 
to  the  emigrants  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  to  suppose  that 
they  are  not  able  to  govern  themselves.  We  must  not  slur 
over  an  argument  of  this  kind  because  it  happens  to  tickle 
the  ear.  It  must  be  met  and  answered.  I  admit  that  the 
emigrant  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern 
himself,  but  I  deny  his  right  to  govern  any  other  person 
loithotU  that  person's  consent.'' 

I  now  introduce  to  my  readers  one  who  heard  Mr. 
Douglas  and  Mr.  Lincohi  on  that  occasion,  fifty-four 
years  ago.  It  is  Eev.  R.  L.  MeCord,  now  in  his  seventy- 
ninth  year.  He  is  an  intelligent  and  highly-respected 
citizen  of  Lake  City,  Iowa,  and  one  of  my  most  valued 
parishioners.    I  shall  let  Mr.  McCord  speak  for  himself: 

"I  was  then  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  in  my  second 
year  as  a  student  in  the  Illinois  Congregational  College  at 
Jacksonville,  thirty  miles  west  of  Springfield.  Some  of 
my  college  mates  and  I  heard  Mr.  Douglas  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
speak  in  the  State  House,  in  the  fall  of  1854.  The  people 
were  wearied  with  the  lengthy  speech  of  Judge  Douglas. 
When  Mr.  Lincoln  began  his  reply,  for  about  fifteen  min- 
utes he  kept  the  audience  in  an  uproar  of  laughter  and 
applause.  Then  he  waded  into  the  subject  of  'free  speech, 
free  soil,  and  free  men,'  much  to  the  confusion  of  the  man 
who  'didn't  care  whether  slavery  was  voted  up  or  down.' 
During  Mr.  Lincoln's  reply,  Judge  Douglas  several  times 
interrupted  him,  saying  he  was  misrepresented.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln, in  his  good  nature,  allowed  him  to  explain  a  number 
of  times.  At  one  point  he  was  very  much  worked  up,  and, 
pointing  his  finger  at  Mr.  Lincoln,  vehemently  demanded  a 
chance  to  explain.  In  a  very  excited  manner,  Judge  Doug- 
las tried  to  set  himself  right,  using  about  fifteen  minutes 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  time.  After  he  was  through,  Mr.  Lincoln 
spread  his  mouth,  and,  with  a  broad  smile,  said,  'I  believe 

73 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  "Little  Giant"  is  somewhat  agitated,'  and,  without 
further  attention  to  the  judge,  proceeded  with  his  speech. 
I  was  so  impressed  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  that  on 
leaving  the  State  House,  I  said  to  my  college  mates,  'Lin- 
coln is  my  candidate  for  President  at  the  next  election.' 
This  was  six  years  before  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  at 
Chicago.  The  next  evening,  with  my  college  mates,  we 
called,  upon  Mr.  Lincoln  at  his  home  and  complimented 
him  for  his  great  speech.  He  received  us  kindly,  shook 
hands  with  us,  and  thanked  us  for  our  call.  This  was  my 
first  meeting  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  but  I  met  him  and  heard 
him  speak  a  number  of  times  afterward." 

This  speech  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  was  a  noted  one,  and 
nearly  all  his  biographers  mention  it,  but  it  has  not 
been  left  on  record,  except  in  small  extracts.  Mr. 
McCord's  statement,  made  for  this  book,  is  interesting, 
and  all  will  be  glad  to  see  the  picture  of  his  friendly 
and  intellectual  face  as  it  now  appears. 

The  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  and  its 
effects  was  the  means  of  the  destruction  of  the  Whig 
party,  to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  belonged,  the  disruption  of 
other  party  lines,  and  the  organization  of  a  new  party 
with  Abraham  Lincoln  as  its  acknowledged  leader,  which 
in  a  few  years  was  to  decide  the  destinies  of  the  United 
States  Government.  It  also  had  the  effect  of  bringing 
about  a  state  of  civil  war  in  Kansas.  Thousands  of  pro- 
and  anti-slavery  people  flocked  to  Kansas  to  help  decide 
the  destiny  of  that  territory.  Illegal  votes,  bogus  legis- 
latures, mobs,  murders,  incendiary  acts,  and  general 
lawlessness  were  some  of  the  fruits  of  Mr.  Douglas' 
famous  bill  for  popular  sovereignty,  better  known  as 
''squatter  sovereignty." 

In  1857,  Chief-Justice  Taney  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  with  a  majority  of  his  associates,  de- 
cided on  a  test  case,  known  as  the  "Dred  Scott  Case," 

74 


Lincoln  and  the  Slavery  Question 

that  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  wa.? 
formed  and  adopted,  a  negro  slave  was  not  a  person,  but 
simply  a  piece  of  property, — a  thing, — and  that  his 
master  could  lawfully  take  his  slaves  an}"where  he 
pleased,  just  as  he  could  his  horses  and  his  cattle. 

The  Kansas-Xebraska  Bill,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
and  the  Dred  Scott  Decision  greatly  aroused  the  North. 
Some  declared  that  the  latter  two  laws  should  not  be 
carried  out.  This  increased  the  hostility  of  the  South. 
Many  persons  in  the  Xorth  assisted  in  what  was  called 
the  "underground  railroad" — secretly  assisting  slaves 
on  their  wav  to  Canada  for  freedom. 

When  a  small  boy,  just  beginning  to  read,  I  remember 
seeing  at  my  Grandfather  Todd's,  in  southern  Indiana, 
copies  of  the  Loui>\'ille  Journal  Cnow  the  Courier- 
Journal)  with  whole  columns  of  short  advertisements, 
offering  rewards  for  runaway  slaves.  Such  advertise- 
ments could  easily  be  recognized  at  a  glance,  for  each 
one  had  a  small  picture  of  a  slave  with  a  carpet-sack  on 
his  back  making  long  strides  for  liberty. 

The  leading  opponents  of  slavery-  were  bitterly  hated 
and  persecuted.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  was  mobbed 
in  the  city  of  Boston,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty 
that  his  life  was  saved.  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy,  who  pub- 
lished an  anti-slavery  paper  at  Alton,  Illinois,  was  shot 
down  by  a  mob  while  defending  his  property  and  plead- 
ing for  free  speech.  Charles  Sumner,  because  of  a 
speech  he  made,  was  brutally  assaulted  while  sitting  in 
his  chair  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  was  so  beaten 
that  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  his  seat  in  Congress 
for  four  years. 

It  was  well  known  that  neither  moral  suasion  nor  the 
ordinary  political  methods  would  ever  do  away  with 

75 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

the  curse  of  slavery.  The  people  of  the  North  debated, 
prayed,  preached,  and  voted  against  slavery,  while  the 
people  of  the  South  were  equally  zealous  in  defending 
slavery,  contending  it  was  a  divine  institution. 

While  matters  were  in  such  an  unsettled  condition  a 
great  explosion  occurred  in  the  fall  of  ISoO  which 
startled  the  entire  nation.  John  Brown,  who  had  ren- 
dered valuable  senace  in  keeping  slavery  out  of  Kansas, 
with  an  armed  force  of  seventeen  men,  made  a  raid 
upon  Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia,  captured  the  United 
States  arsenal,  and  for  some  time  held  the  United  States 
army  at  bay  before  he  was  captured.  He  had  planned 
for  a  general  insurrection  among  the  slaves,  believing 
that  their  emancipation  depended  largely  upon  them- 
selves. Brown's  plans  were  forced  before  he  was  ready. 
It  was  a  rash  act,  and  was  not  approved  by  the  North, 
but  strongly  condemned.  Brown  and  others  who  sur- 
vived the  conflict  were  executed  for  inciting  an  insur- 
rection, murder,  and  treason.  Brown  was  a  brave  and 
sincere  man,  but  fanatical.  As  the  explosion  of  the 
Maine,  hastened  the  Spanish-American  War,  so  the 
John  Brown  raid  was  an  important  link  in  the  chain  of 
events  to  hasten  the  downfall  of  slaver3^  Seward's 
"irrepressible  conflict"  was  at  hand,  and  his  "^liigher 
law"  was  soon  to  prevail. 


CHAPTER  X. 
The  Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debates 

Candidates  for  the  United  States  Senate — Seven  Joint  Debates — 
The  Paramount  Issue — The  "Divided  House" — "Acts  of  a 
Drama" — Douglas  Charged  Lincoln  with  Selling  VNTiisky — 
Lincoln's  Denial — A  Discovery — Site  of  the  Old  Still  House  in 
Indiana — Douglas  Elected — Lincoln,  the  Champion  of  IlumaJi 
Liberty. 

In  1858,  Abraham  Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Dougla-s 
were  candidates  for  tlie  United  States  Senate  from  Illi- 
nois. Mr.  Douglas,  who  was  a  Democrat,  had  already 
served  as  Senator,  and  was  a  candidate  for  reelection. 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  Republican  nominee.  Both  had 
had  considerable  experience  in  politics.  Arrangements 
were  made  between  them  to  jointly  discuss  the  political 
issues  at  seven  different  places,  namely,  Ottawa,  August 
21;  Freepoi-t,  August  27:  Joneslwro,  September  15; 
Charlestown,  September  18;  Galesburg,  October  7; 
Quinc}^,  October  13,  and  Alton,  October  15. 

These  were  the  most  noted  public  debates  in  Ameri- 
can history.  The  slavery^  question,  with  its  various  side 
issues,  was  the  chief  topic  of  discussion.  These  debates 
were  listened  to  by  immense  concourses  of  people,  and 
excited  the  interest  of  the  whole  country.  Mr.  Lincoln 
assumed  that  slavery  was  wrong,  and  opjwsed  the  exten- 
sion of  it,  while  Mr.  Douglas,  without  considering  the 
moral  phase  of  the  question,  was  in  favor  of  leaving  to 
the  vote  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  territory  whether  it 
should  become  a  State  with  or  without  slaveiy. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  "divided  house"  argument,  first  used 
at   Springfield,   in  June,  when   ho  was  nominated   for 

77 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Senator,  was  one  of  the  strongest  applications  of  scrip- 
ture ever  given.    He  said : 

"We  are  ncv.-  far  into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was 
initiated  with  the  avowed  object,  and  confident  promise, 
of  putting  an  end  to  slavery  agitation.  Under  the  opera- 
tion of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has  not  only  not  ceased, 
but  has  constantly  augmented.  In  my  opinion  it  will  not 
cease  until  a  crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed. 
'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  believe  this 
Government  cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and 
half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the  Union  to  be  dissolved — I  do 
not  expect  the  house  to  fall — but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease 
to  be  divided.  It  will  become  all  one  thing,  or  all  the 
other.  Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the 
further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public  mind 
shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate 
extinction;  or  its  advocates  will  push  it  forward,  till  it 
shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all  the  States,  old  a,s  well  as 
new — North  as  well  as  South." 

In  the  course  of  the  debates,  Mr.  Lincoln  said  of 
slavery : 

"The  real  issue  in  this  controversy — the  one  pressing 
upon  every  mind — is  the  sentiment  on  the  part  of  one  class 
that  looks  upon  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a  wrong,  and 
of  another  class  that  does  not  look  upon  it  as  a  wrong. 
.  .  .  Because  we  think  it  wrong,  we  propose  a  course  of 
policy  that  shall  deal  with  it  as  a  wrong.  We  deal  with  it 
as  any  other  v.rong,  in  so  far  as  we  can  prevent  it  from 
growing  any  larger,  and  so  deal  with  it  that  in  the  run  of 
time  there  may  be  some  promise  of  an  end  to  it." 

Because  of  the  great  principles  involved,  and  the 
wide  notoriety  of  these  debates,  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  at 
Quincy : 

"I  was  aware,  when  it  was  first  agreed  that  Judge  Doug- 
las and  I  were  to  have  these  §even  joint  discussions,  that 

78 


The  Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debates 

they  were  the  successive  acts  of  a  drama — perhaps  I  should 
say,  to  be  enacted,  not  merely  in  the  face  of  audiences  like 
this,  but  in  the  face  of  the  nation,  and,  to  some  extent,  by 
my  relation  to  him,  and  not  from  anything  in  myself,  in 
the  face  of  the  world;  and  I  am  anxious  that  they  should 
be  conducted  with  dignity  and  in  good  temper,  which  would 
be  befitting  the  vast  audiences  before  which  it  was  con- 
ducted." 

In  the  first  debate,  at  Ottawa,  ilr.  Douglas  said,  in 
reference  to  the  early  career  of  himself  and  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  Illinois : 

"I  have  known  him  for  nearly  twenty-five  years.  There 
were  many  points  of  sympathy  between  us  when  we  first 
got  acquainted.  We  were  both  comparatively  boys,  and 
both  struggling  with  poverty  in  a  strange  land.  I  was  a 
school  teacher  in  the  town  of  Winchester,  and  he  a  flourish- 
ing grocery-ke€per  in  the  town  of  Salem." 

It  has  been  stated,  in  Chapter  VII.,  that  in  those 
days  to  be  a  "groeer\'-keei>er"  implied  the  selling  of 
whisky.  In  his  reply,  Mr.  Lincoln,  using  the  third  per- 
son, said: 

"The  judge  is  woefully  at  fault  about  his  early  friend 
Lincoln  being  a  'grocery-keeper.'  I  don't  know  as  it  would 
be  a  great  sin  if  I  had  been;  but  he  is  mistaken.  Lincoln 
never  kept  a  grocery  anywhere  in  the  world.  It  is  true 
that  Lincoln  did  work  the  latter  part  of  one  winter  in  a 
little  still-house  up  at  the  head  of  a  hollow." 

Here  Lincoln  plainly  denies  ever  keeping  a  grocery, 
but  the  query  arises,  Where  did  he  "work  the  latter  part 
of  one  winter  in  a  little  still-house,  up  at  the  head  of  a 
hollow"?  In  all  the  numerous  Lincoln  biographies  I 
have  ever  examined  I  have  never  seen  any  reference  to 
its  location.    But  I  have  located  the  place. 


Footpnnts  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Henry  Brooner,  one  of 
Lincoln's  early  associates  in  Indiana.  At  the  time  of 
giving  the  other  items,  more  than  twenty  years  ago, 
already  mentioned,  "Uncle  Henry"  made  this  statement, 
written  at  the  time,  the  original  still  preserved : 

"When  I  was  about  twenty-five  years  old  [1829],  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  came  to  my  house,  where  I  now  live,  and  left 
an  article  of  agreement  for  me  to  keep.  At  that  time,  one 
mile  north  of  here,  there  was  a  distillery  owned  by  .John 
Button.  He  employed  John  Johnston,  Lincoln's  step- 
brother, to  run  it  that  winter,  and  Lincoln  left  the  article 
cf  agreement  between  the  parties  for  me  to  keep." 

''Oh,  Uncle  Henry,"  said  I,  "find  that  paper,  and  I 
will  give  you  ten  dollars  for  it."  He  said  liis  house 
burned  afterward,  and  all  his  papers  were  destroyed. 
He  afterward  built  a  brick  house  near  the  same  founda- 
tion. 

When  "Uncle  Henry"  gave  me  this  item,  I  had  not 
read  the  celebrated  Lincoln  and  Douglas  debates,  and, 
therefore,  knew  nothing  of  Lincoln's  statement  that  he 
had  worked  at  a  still-house.  When  I  read  the  debates, 
fifteen  years  later,  and  saw  Lincoln's  reference  to  his 
having  "worked  the  latter  part  of  one  winter  at  a  little 
still-house,  up  at  the  head  of  a  hollow,"  I  was  at  once 
stnick  with  what  "Uncle  Henry"  had  told  me.  This 
certainly  decides  the  fact  that  Lincoln  had  reference  to 
the  time  when  he  worked  at  the  Button  distillery,  when 
his  step-brother,  John  Johnston,  run  it  the  winter 
before  the  Lincolns  left  for  Illinois,  in  1830. 

John  Kemp,  my  old  friend  and  a  highly-respected 
citizen,  now  sixty-three  years  old,  who  was  born  and 
reared  on  a  farm  adjoining  Henry  Brooner,  told  me  in 
July,  1903,  in  Washington,  Indiana,  that  north  of  the 

80 


The  Lincoln  and  Douglas  Debates 

old  Brooner  farm  there  is  an  old  farm  still  known  as 
the  "Button  farm,"  and  that  he  remembered  seeing, 
often,  when  a  small  boy,  near  a  spring,  an  old,  dilapi- 
dated building  called  the  "old  still-house."  He  had 
never  heard  of  John  Johnston  or  of  Abraham  Lincoln 
working  there,  for  that  was  before  he  was  born.  "Uncle 
Henry"  had  been  dead  thirteen  years,  but  I  had  the 
record  of  the  statement  he  made  to  me. 

On  a  bright  afternoon,  September  7,  1903,  Mr.  Kemp 
took  me  in  his  buggy  to  see  the  place.  The  farm  was 
then  owned  by  John  and  Harmon  Steineker,  and  is  on 
the  old  Fredonia  and  Princeton  highway,  four  miles 
southwest  of  Huntingburg,  Dubois  County,  Indiana. 
Here  is  the  "Button  farm,"  and  here  is  a  spring  in  the 
barn  lot.  Just  across  the  road,  to  the  right,  is  where 
the  old  "still-house"  stood,  and  there  is  the  "hollow" 
running  down  through  the  forest.  As  I  viewed  the 
scene,  I  felt  something  within  me  akin  to  what  old 
Archimedes  felt  when  he  discovered  the  solution  to 
an  important  mathematical  problem,  and  exclaimed, 
"Eureka!  Eureka!"  ("I  have  found  it!  I  have  found 
it!"). 

In  the  joint  debates  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Douglas,  the  latter  carried  the  most  popular  applause, 
but  the  former  made  the  deeper  and  more  lasting 
impressions.  Bouglas  was  greeted  with  the  loudest 
cheers,  but  when  Lincoln  closed,  the  people  seemed  sober 
and  serious.  As  a  result  of  the  canvass,  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  a  majority  of  four  thousand  of  the  popular  vote  of 
the  State,  but  it  is  stated  that  the  legislative  districts 
were  so  construed  that  Bouglas  received  a  majority  of 
the  ballots  in  the  legislature,  and  was,  therefore,  re- 
turned  to   the   United    States    Senate.       The    debates 

81 


Footprints  of  Ahraliam  Lincoln 

brought  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  front  as  an  able  and  elo- 
quent champion  of  human  liberty  and  prepared  the  way 
for  his  nomination  and  election  to  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States. 


82 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Lincoln  Nominated  and  Elected  President 

Rival  Candidates — Great  Entlmsiasm — Lincoln's  Temperance  Prin- 
ciples Exemplified — Other  Nominations — A  Great  Campaign — 
Lincoln's  Letter  to  David  Turnham — Lincoln's  Election — Seces- 
sion— Lincoln   Inaugurated — Douglas. 

Abraham  Lixcoln"  was  nominated  as  the  Eepiibliean 
candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States,  at  Chi- 
cago, Illinois,  May  18,  1860.  Salmon  P.  Chase,  William 
H.  Seward,  Simon  Cameron,  William  L.  Dayton,  and 
Edward  Bates  M^ere  the  opposing  candidates  for  the 
nomination.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  nominated  on  the  third 
ballot.  The  nomination  was  afterward  made  unani- 
mous. The  nomination  was  made  amid  great  applause. 
It  has  been  said  that  the  scene  baffled  all  human  descrip- 
tion. Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  second  Eepublican  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  G-eneral  John  C.  Fremont  being  the 
first,  who  was  nominated  in  1856. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  at  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois, 
when  he  was  nominated.  His  strong  temperance  prin- 
ciples were  again  exemplified  when  the  committee  form- 
ally notified  him  of  his  nomination.  Some  of  his 
Springfield  friends,  knowing  that  he  did  not  keep  or 
use  liquors,  thought  he  would  have  nothing  of  the  kind 
on  hands  to  refresh  the  committee,  and  offered  to  fur- 
nish what  was  needed.  Mr.  Lincoln  thanked  them  for 
their  offer,  and  said,  "Gentlemen,  I  cannot  allow  you 
to  do  what  I  will  not  do  myself." 

After  the  committee  had  notified  him  of  his  nomina- 
tion, and  he  had  responded,  accepting  the  nomination, 

83 


Footprints  of  Ahraliam  Lincoln 

lie  said  that,  as  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  an  inter- 
view so  important  and  interesting  as  that  which  had 
transpired,  he  supposed  good  maimers  would  require 
that  he  should  treat  the  committee  with  something  to 
drink.  Soon  a  servant  entered  bearing  a  large  waiter 
containing  several  glasses,  and  a  large  pitcher  in  the 
midst,  and  placed  it  on  the  center-table.  Mr.  Lincoln 
arose  and,  gravely  addressing  the  company,  said :  "Gen- 
tlemen, we  must  pledge  our  mutual  healths  in  the  most 
healthy  beverage  which  God  has  given  to  man.  It  is 
the  only  beverage  I  have  ever  used  or  allowed  in  my 
family,  and  I  cannot  conscientiously  depart  from  it  on 
the  present  occasion — it  is  pure  Adam's  ale  from  the 
spring."  And,  taking  a  glass,  he  touched  it  to  his  lips, 
and  pledged  them  his  highest  respects  in  a  cup  of  cold 
water. 

The  Democratic  party  was  divided.  The  Northern 
Democrats  nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Lincoln's 
old  political  rival.  The  Southern  Democrats  nominated 
John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky.  A  tliird  party, 
called  the  "Union  party,"  nominated  John  Bell,  of 
Tennessee.  The  campaign  that  followed  was  a  remark- 
able one.  "The  magic  words,  'Old  Abe'  and  'Honest 
Old  Abe,'  were  on  thousands  of  banners." 

During  the  campaign,  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  old  friend,  David  Tumham,  the  constable  of  Spencer 
'County,  Indiana,  from  whom  he  borrowed  the  "Revised 
Statutes  of  Indiana,"  mentioned  in  Chapter  III.  This 
letter  is  now  given  to  the  general  public  for  the  first 
time: 

"Springfield,  Ills.,  Oct.  23,  1860. 
''David  Tumham,  Esq., 

'     "My  dear  old  Friend:     Your  kind  letter  of  the  17th  is 
received.     I  am  indeed  very  glad  to  hear  you  are  still  liv- 

84 


Lincohi  Nominated  and  Elected  President 

ing  and  well.  I  well  remember  when  you  and  I  last  met, 
after  a  separation  of  fourteen  years,  at  the  Cross  Road 
voting  place,  in  the  fall  of  1844.  It  is  now  sixteen  years 
more,  and  we  are  both  no  longer  young  men. 

"I  suppose  you  are  a  grandfather,  and  I,  though  married 
much  later  in  life,  have  a  son  nearly  grown. 

"I  would  much  like  to  visit  the  old  home,  and  old  friends 
of  my  boyhood,  but  I  fear  the  chance  of  doing  so  soon  is 
not  very  good. 

"Your  friend  and  sincere  well-wisher, 

"A.  Lincoln." 

The  election  was  held  on  the  sixth  of  jSTovember,  1860, 
and  the  result  showed  a  popular  vote  for  Lincoln  of 
1,857,600;  for  Douglas,  1,365,976;  for  Breckenridge, 
847,953,  and  for  Bell,  590,631.  In  the  electoral  college, 
Lincoln  received  180  votes,  Breckenridge,  72,  Bell  39, 
and  Douglas  12. 

Because  of  an  election  of  a  Xorthem  man  for  Presi-' 
dent,  and  fearing  their  "peculiar  institution"  was  in 
danger,  the  Southern  States  began  the  organization  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  when  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
inaugurated,  March  4,  1861,  seven  Southern  States  had 
passed  ordinances  of  secession,  followed  later  by  four 
other  States.  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  was 
chosen  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  inaugural  address  was  noted  for  its 
sentiments  of  good  Avill  and  forbearance,  yet  he  strongly 
indicated  his  purpose  to  maintain  the  Union.  He  stated 
that  he  had  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  inter- 
fere with  slavery  where  it  then  existed,  and  that  the 
people  of  the  South  could  have  no  war  unless  they 
became  the  aggressors. 

Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Mr.  Lincoln's  old  political  rival, 
and  who  was  also  a  presidential  candidate  at  the  time 

85 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  held  Mr.  Lincoln's  hat  while 
he  read  his  inaugural  address,  and  stated  to  those  near 
him,  "If  I  can't  be  President,  I  can  hold  his  Imt." 
James  Parton,  the  historian,  said  of  Mr.  Douglas :  "On 
the  breaking  ont  of  the  Rebellion,  in  1861,  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  gave  his  hand  to  President  Lincoln  and 
engaged  to  stand  by  him  in  his  efforts  to  save  the  coun- 
try. But  his  days  were  numbered.  During  his 
herculean  labors  of  the  previous  year  he  had  sustained 
liimself  by  deep  draughts  of  whisky;  and  Ms  constitu- 
tion gave  way  at  the  very  time  when  a  new  and  nobler 
career  opened  up  before  him."  He  died  in  Chicago, 
June  3,  1861,  at  the  age  of  forty-eight  years,  and  only 
three  months  after  ]\Ir.  Lincoln's  inauguration. 


S«5 


CHAPTER  XII. 
President  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War 

The  Beginning — Personal  Recollections — The  War  Spirit — Progress 
of  the  War — The  Emancipation  Proclamation — A  Fight  to 
Finish — Lincoln's  Kindness — He  Relieves  a  Young  Soldier — 
He  Names  Triplets  Who  Are  Still  Living — His  Reelection — 
The  Fall   of  Richmond — Appomatox — Close  of  the  Rebellion. 

On  the  12th  of  April,  1861,  after  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
inaugurated,  the  first  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  was 
the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter  on  the  part  of  the 
South.  President  Lincoln  at  once  called  for  volunteers 
to  suppress  the  rebellion. 

Although  but  a  small  boy  at  the  time,  I  remember 
when  the  war  began.  It  was  the  greatest  civil  war  in 
human  liistor}',  and  will  always  be  associated  with 
Abraham  Lincoln.  I  remember  the  excitement  it  pro- 
duced where  I  resided  in  southern  Indiana  and  through- 
out the  whole  countrv\  I  recall  the  floating  flag,  the 
mournful  sound  of  the  drum,  and  the  plaintive  music 
of  the  fife  when  volunteers  were  enlisting  for  the  defense 
of  the  nation.  The  neighbors  talked  war,  the  news- 
papers were  filled  with  war  news.  The  war  spirit  entered 
into  the  plays  of  the  children.  Elder  fifes,  old  tin  wash- 
boilers  for  drums,  wooden  guns  and  bayonets,  and 
rudely-constructed  flags  were  much  in  evidence  in  the 
mimic  drilling  and  marching.  How  patriotically  the 
little  boys  sang,  as  did  some  of  their  sires  in  the  sunny 
South : 

"The  Union  forever,  hurrah!   boys,  hurrah! 
Down  with  the  traitor,  up  with  the  stars, 
While  we  rally  round  the  flag,  boys,  rally  once  again, 
Shouting  the  battle-cry  of  freedom!" 

87 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

H'ow  the  schoolboys  pLayed  war  in  the  autumn !  The 
forts  were  made  of  old  fence  rails  and  logs,  and  how 
they  were  bombarded  with  cannon-balls  of  green  wal- 
nuts, and  how  the  "rebels"  were  routed  and  some  cap- 
tured! In  the  winter-time  how  the  snow-balls  would 
fly  as  the  two  armies  stood  in  battle  array ! 

What  a  sad  day  it  was  when  the  news  came  that  our 
"circuit  rider,"  a  young  minister,  who  had  so  often  been 
in  our  home,  and  who  had  enlisted,  was  killed  at  Vicks- 
burg,  Mississippi,  in  May,  1863. 

Early  in  1865,  I  saw  my  name  in  print  for  the  first 
time  by  writing  a  letter  for  publication  in  the  Children's 
Friend,  published  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  which  I  made  the 
statement,  "I  am  a  Union  boy  fourteen  years  old,  and 
wish  the  war  was  over." 

After  the  war  had  continiied  a  year  and  a  half,  with 
victories  and  defeats  on  both  sides,  the  President,  on 
the  22d  of  September,  1862,  issued  the  provisional 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  which  was  to  the  effect 
that  the  South  would  be  given  from  that  time  up  to  the 
first  of  January,  1863,  to  lay  down  their  arms,  keep 
their  slaves,  and  find  their  proper  places  in  the  Union, 
other-wdse  a  proclamation  would  be  issued  to  set  at  lib- 
erty their  slaves.  The  South  did  not  accept  the  over- 
tures of  President  Lincoln,  and  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  was  issued.  It  was  issued  as  a  war  meas- 
ure, upon  military  necessity,  and  on  the  condition  that 
the  traitor  forfeits  his  property.  After  this  the  war, 
upon  the  part  of  the  Xorth,  was  not  only  to  suppress 
the  rebellion,  but  for  the  purpose  of  abolishing  slavery, 
and  the  South  fought  not  only  to  preserve  the  Confed- 
eracy, but  for  the  institution  of  slavery  itself.     It  was 

88 


Pres ident  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War 

now  a  fight  to  finish  upon  both  sides,  and  to  settle  great 
principles  and  interests. 

Those  were  times  that  tried  men's  souls,  but  none 
were  so  tried  as  was  the  soul  of  him  who  stood  at  the 
helm  and  guided  the  ship  of  state  in  that  stormy  period 
of  our  country's  history. 

Throughout  the  war  Mr.  Lincoln  was  very  kind  and 
forbearing  in  his  dealings  with  all  classes  of  men.  Many 
a  deserter  owed  his  life  to  the  pardoning  power  of  Presi- 
dent Lincoln,  one  of  whom  I  knew  personally  for  many 
yeaxs.  Besides  his  heavy  duties  as  President,  under 
such  extraordinary  circumstances,  he  went  to  extra 
trouble  in  relieving  persons  in  many  cases  who  came 
to  him  for  help.  George  W.  Wolf,  an  upright  and  influ- 
ential citizen,  who  resides  near  Georgetown,  Floyd 
County,  Indiana,  was  corporal  of  Company  C,  of  the 
Eighty-first  Indiana  Eegiment,  in  the  Civil  War,  and 
afterward  sergeant  of  the  Seventh  Veteran  Eeserve 
Corps.  At  his  home,  November  26,  1904,  he  related  to 
me  the  following  incident,  which  came  under  his 
observation,  showing  the  kind  nature  of  President 
Lincoln : 

"A  young  soldier,  about  twenty  years  of  age,  belonging 
to  an  Illinois  regiment,  was  taken  sick  on  the  field,  and 
sent  to  a  hospital.  For  some  time  after  his  partial  recovery 
he  was  not  able  for  field  service,  and  was  put  in  the  First 
Battalion  Reserve  Corps,  which  was  in  camp  in  the  rear  of 
the  President's  mansion.  He  came  to  me  one  day  and  said: 
'Sergeant,  what  would  you  do  if  you  had  been  sent  from 
your  company  to  a  hospital,  and  then  sent  here,  and  could 
draw  no  money  from  the  paymaster  on  account  of  not 
having  a  descriptive  roll?' 

"  'I  v/ould  send  for  it,'  said  I. 

"  'I  have  sent  for  it  two  or  three  times,  but  it  never 
came,'  said  he. 

89 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

"  'Then  I  would  go  and  see  Uncle  Abe,'  said  I. 

"  'What,'  said  he,  'a  private  soldier  go  up  and  see  the 
President?    Would  he  notice  me?' 

"  'Yes,'  I  replied,  'and  I  will  go  with  yen.' 

"The  next  morning  we  secured  a  pass,  and  went  to  see 
the  President.  The  young  man  was  very  nervous.  After 
waiting  a  few  minutes,  we  were  admitted  to  the  President's 
room.  Mr.  Lincoln,  after  dropping  his  feet  from  a  table, 
said,  'Well,  soldiers,  what  can  I  do  for  you?' 

"Before  entering,  I  told  the  ycung  man  he  must  do  his 
own  tallving,  but  I  answered,  'This  soldier  wants  to  see 
you  about  getting  pay  for  his  service.' 

"Mr.  Lincoln,  after  a  short  conversation,  wrote  the  name 
of  the  soldier,  his  regiment,  when  he  enlisted,  that  he  had 
received  but  one  payment,  that  he  had  tried  more  than 
once,  and  had  failed.  Then  Mr.  Lincoln  said,  'I  will  see 
to  it.' 

"The  next  day,  about  noon,  the  young  soldier  was  ordered 
to  go  to  the  paymaster  and  draw  his  money.  He  received 
all  his  pay,  and  a  bounty  beside,  for  he  had  been  without 
pay  for  two  years.  After  receiving  his  money  he  joyfully 
took  off  his  cap,  threw  it  up  in  the  air,  and  exclaimed, 
'Boys,  if  they  don't  treat  you  right,  go  to  Old  Abe,  and  he 
wall  make  it  right.'  " 

In  the  Farm  and  Fireside,  published  at  Springfield, 
Oliio,  of  March  7,  1906,  appeared  an  article  written  by 
J.  L.  Graff,  concerning  a  set  of  triplets,  yet  living,  who 
were  named  by  President  Lincoln.  The  family  name  is 
Haskins.  The  picture  of  the  triplets  appeared  in  con- 
nection with  the  article.  The  names  given  by  Mr.  Lin- 
coln were  Simon  Cameron,  Secretary  of  War;  Gideon 
Welles,  Secretary  of  the  Navj^  and  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States.  Eecently  I  wrote  a 
letter  addressed  to  the  triplets,  in  care  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  Haskins,  enclosing  the  article  and  their  picture, 
asking  for  the  verification  of  the  facts  stated  and  for 

90 


President  Lincoln  and  the  Civil  War 

other  information.    In  due  time  I  received  the  following 
letter : 

"Baraboo,  "Wisconsin,  January  17,  1909. 
"Rev.  J.  T.  Hoeson,  Dear  Sir: — I  received  a  letter  from 
you  asking  if  I  was  one  of  the  Haskins  triplets.  Yes,  sir; 
I  am.  We  were  born  May  24,  1861,  and  named  by  Abraham 
Lincoln.  We  are  all  alive  and  well.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that 
I  have  no  picture  of  us  three,  and  never  had  them  taken 
but  once  in  our  lives,  and  the  one  that  I  had  I  sent  to  Mr. 
J.  L.  Graff,  of  Chicago.  One  brother  is  here  in  Baraboo, 
the  other  is  in  Coleman,  Michigan,  whose  name  is  Simon. 
That  picture  you  sent  is  an  exact  picture  of  us.  A  Mr. 
Cole,  editor  of  the  Baraboo  News,  tried  to  find  the  letter 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  wrote  to  my  folks.  All  that  he  could  find 
out  was  that  it  was  in  some  museum  in  Washington.  I 
M'ish  we  could  get  it,  for  I  would  highly  prize  it.  We  boys 
never  saw  it.  He  wrote  to  my  father  and  asked  him  if  it 
was  true  that  he  was  the  father  of  three  boys  of  the  same 
age.  He  wrote  and  told  him  it  was  so;  then  Mr.  Lincoln 
wrote  again,  saying  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  name  us. 
Father  wrote  and  told  him  that  he  would  be  pleased  to 
have  him  name  us.  He  said  the  first  should  be  named 
Abraham  Lincoln,  the  second  Gideon  Welles,  and  the  third 
Simon  Cameron.  We  were  born  in  Starksbcro,  Addison 
County,  Vermont.  My  mother's  name,  before  she  was  mar- 
ried, was  Louisa  E.  Grace,  and  if  there  ever  was  a  Chris- 
tian she  was  the  very  best  one.  If  there  is  anything  more 
I  can  do  for  you  I  will  be  very  glad  to  do  so.  I  feel  proud 
of  my  name,  and  try  hard  to  honor  it  in  every  respect. 
"Yours,  with  respect, 

"Ajbraham  Lincoln  Raskins." 

I  feel  sure  the  reader  will  be  pleased  to  see  in  this 
book  the  picture  of  the  triplets,  yet  living,  who  were 
named  by  President  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  reelected  President  of  the  United 
States,  November  8,  1864,  and  entered  upon  his  second 
term  March  4,  1865.    General  George  B.  McClellan  was 

91 


Footprints  of  Ahraliatn  Lincoln 

the  Democratic  candidate.  The  London  Spectator 
declared  the  second  inaugural  address  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
to  be  the  noblest  political  document  known  to  history. 

In  the  meantime  the  war  was  being  industriously 
prosecuted.  Important  victories,  with  some  reverses, 
came  to  the  North  from  time  to  time.  The  rebellion 
finally  collapsed  in  the  fall  of  Eichmond,  Virginia, 
April  3,  and  the  surrender  of  General  Lee  to  General 
Grant  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  April  9,  1865. 

Mr.  Mchols,  in  his  "Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  says : 

"The  spontaneous  and  universal  rejoicings  of  the  people 
icf  the  country  at  the  complete  overthrow  of  the  rebellion 
were  such  as  had  never  been  witnessed  before  on  any 
continent.  Men  laughed,  cried,  shouted,  shook  hands  with 
each  other;  there  were  parades  by  day  and  at  night.  Amer- 
ica was  illuminated  by  discharge  of  fireworks  and  thou- 
sands of  torchlight  processions.  The  war  was  over.  Peace 
stretched  her  white  wings  over  our  beloved  land." 


1)2 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
Death  of  President  Lincoln 

Personal  Recollections — The  Tragic  Event — Mr.  Stanton — A  Nation 
in  Sorrow — The  Funeral — The  Interment  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois— The  House  in  Which  President  Lincoln  Died — Changed 
Conditions — The  South  Honors  Lincoln — A  United  People — 
A  Rich  Inheritance. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1865,  my  father  came  hurriedly 
into  the  house  with  the  exclamatory  interrogation, 
addressed  to  mother,  "Guess  who 's  dead !"  Motlier  at 
once  thought  of  her  old  father,  and  asked  if  it  were  he. 
Then  came  the  startling  news,  "Lincoln  is  killed!" 
What  a  shock  it  was  to  our  family,  as  it  was  to  thou- 
sands of  others.  We  looked  at  the  little  two-year-old 
boy  of  the  household  who  bore  the  President's  name, 
and,  with  childish  superstition,  wondered  if  he  would 
suffer  any  disadvantages  because  of  the  murder  of 
President  Lincoln. 

On  Friday  evening,  April  14,  the  President  was  in 
attendance  at  Ford's  Theater,  on  Tenth  Street,  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  The  proceeds  of  the  entertainment  were 
to  be  given  to  a  charity  benefit,  and  it  was  widely  adver- 
tised that  the  President  and  wife,  with  G-eneral  Grant 
and  others  would  be  present.  John  Wilkes  Booth,  a 
fanatic  and  Southern  sympathizer,  shot  the  President 
in  the  head  at  10:  15.  He  at  once  became  unconscious, 
and  never  regained  consciousness.  He  was  carried 
across  the  street  to  a  house,  where  he  died  the  next 
morning  at  7 :  23.  Mrs.  Lincoln,  the  son  Robert  T., 
Private  Secretary  John  Hay,  several  members  of  the 

.93 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

cabinet,  surgeons,  Bev.  Dr.  Gurley,  Senator  Charles 
Sumner,  and  others  were  present  when  the  end  came. 

No  one,  outside  of  the  family,  was  so  deeply  moved 
at  the  striking  down  of  the  President  as  was  Mr.  Stan- 
ton. It  will  be  remembered  that  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Mr. 
Stanton  first  met  in  1857,  at  the  trial  of  the  McCormick 
Eeaper  Patent  case,  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  that  at  the 
trial  Stanton  slighted  Mr.  Lincoln  and  made  uncompli- 
mentary remarks  about  him.  Four  years  later.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  chose  Mr..  Stanton  a  member  of  his  cabi- 
net, making  him  Secretary  of  War.  Their  relations 
were  very  close  during  the  war  period  up  to  the  time  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  death. 

F.  B.  Carpenter,  in  his  book,  "Six  Months  at  the 
White  House,"  says : 

"A  few  days  before  the  President's  death,  Secretary 
Stanton  tendered  his  resignation  of  the  War  Department. 
He  accompanied  the  act  with  a  heartfelt  tribute  to  Mr. 
Lincoln's  constant  friendship  and  faithful  devotion  to  the 
country,  saying,  also,  that  he,  as  secretary,  had  accepted 
the  position  to  hold  it  only  until  the  war  should  end,  and 
that  now  he  felt  his  work  was  done,  and  his  duty  was  to 
resign. 

"Mr.  Lincoln  was  greatly  moved  by  the  secretary's  words, 
and,  tearing  in  pieces  the  paper  containing  his  resignation, 
and  throwing  his  arms  about  the  secretary,  he  said,  'Stan- 
ton, you  have  been  a  good  friend  and  a  faithful  public 
servant,  and  it  is  not  for  you  to  say  when  you  will  no 
longer  be  needed  here.'  Several  friends  of  both  parties 
were  present  on  the  occasion,  and  there  was  not  a  dry  eye 
that  witnessed  the  scene." 

When  Lincoln  fell,  Stanton  was  almost  heart-broken, 
and  as  he  knelt  by  his  side  was  heard  to  say  to  himself: 
"Am  I  indeed  left  alone  ?  None  may  now  ever  know  or 
tell  what  we  have  suffered  together  in  the  nation's  dark- 

94 


Death  of  President  Lincoln 

est  hours."  When  the  surgeon-general  said  to  him  that 
there  was  no  hope,  he  could  not  believe  it,  and  passion- 
ately exclaimed,  "No,  no,  general ;  no,  no !" 

When  Lincoln  expired,  and  just  after  prayer  by 
Doctor  Gurley,  Stanton  was  the  first  to  break  the 
silence,  saying,  "Now  he  belongs  to  the  ages." 

At  the  death  of  President  Lincoln  the  nation  was 
suddenly  turned  from  demonstrations  of  great  joy,  on 
account  of  the  closing  of  the  war,  to  intense  grief  and 
unutterable  horror.  W.  0.  Stoddard  says,  "It  was  as 
if  there  had  been  a  death  in  every  home  throughout  the 
land."    J.  H.  Barrett  says : 

"Never  before  was  rejoicing  turned  into  such  sudden 
and  overwhelming  sorrow.  A  demon  studying  how  most 
deeply  to  wound  the  greatest  number  of  hearts,  could  have 
devised  no  act  for  his  purpose  like  that  which  sent  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  to  his  grave.  No  man's  loss  could  have  been 
so  universally  felt  as  that  of  a  father,  brother,  friend. 
Many  a  fireside  was  made  lonely  by  this  bereavement.  Sad- 
ness and  despondency  seized  upon  all.  Men  ceased  busi- 
ness, and  workmen  returned  home  with  their  dinner  buck- 
ets unopened.  The  merchants  left  their  counting-rooms 
for  the  privacy  of  their  dwellings.  A  gloom,  intensified  by 
the  transition  from  the  pomp  and  rejoicing  of  the  day 
before,  settled  impenetrably  on  every  mind.  Bells  sadly 
tolled  in  all  parts  of  the  land.  Mourning  drapery  was 
quickly  seen  from  house  to  house  on  evei-y  square  of  the 
national  capital;  and  all  the  chief  places  of  the  country 
witnessed,  by  spontaneous  demonstration,  their  participa- 
tion in  the  general  sorrow.  In  every  loyal  pulpit,  and  at 
every  true  altar  throughout  the  nation,  the  great  public 
grief  was  the  theme  of  earnest  prayer  and  discourse  on 
the  day  following.  One  needs  not  to  dwell  on  what  no  pen 
can  describe,  and  on  what  no  adult  living  on  that  day  can 
ever  forget." 

95 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

Funeral  services  were  conducted  in  tlie  East  Eoom 
of  the  White  House  on  Wednesday,  April  19,  by  Doctor 
Gurley,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Andrew  Johnson, 
the  successor  of  President  Lincoln,  by  proclamation, 
recommended  that  memorial  services  be  held  that  day 
throughout  the  United  States.  I  kept  my  first  diary 
that  year,  and  made  the  following  entry  for  that  day : 

"Abraham  Lincoln's  funeral  preached;  order  to  hold 
meeting  at  every  church  in  the  U.  S.  Heard  David  Swartz 
preach  in  Clear  Spring.  2  Samuel,  3  chapter,  38  verse. 
The  minister  was  a  Methodist,  and  the  words  of  the  text 
were,  'Know  ye  not  that  there  is  a  prince  and  a  great  man 
fallen  this  day  in  Israel?'  " 

The  remains  of  President  Lincoln  were  taken  to  his 
old  home,  Springfield,  Illinois,  for  interment.  An 
address  was  there  delivered  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  highly- 
esteemed  friend.  Bishop  Simpson,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  A  large  monument,  appropriate  to 
the  memory  of  him  who  "bound  the  nation  and  unbound 
the  slave,"  marks  the  place  where  his  body  lies  in  Oak 
Eidge  Cemetery. 

The  three-story  brick  building  in  which  President 
Lincoln  died  in  Wasliington  City  is  still  standing.  The 
lower  story  is  used  by  Mr.  0.  H.  Oldroyd,  containing 
the  Oldroyd  Lincoln  Memorial  Collection,  consisting  of 
more  than  three  thousand  articles  pertaining  to  the  mar- 
tyred President.  I  visited  this  house.  May  23,  1901. 
In  some  pictures  of  the  house  in  which  Lincoln  died 
there  is  a  flag  floating  from  a  window  in  the  second 
story,  and  in  others  the  third  story,  with  the  statement 
that  the  flag  indicates  the  room  in  which  President 
Lincoln  died.  Neither  is  correct.  He  died  in  a  small 
room  on  tlie  first  floor,  in  the  rear  part  of  the  building. 

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Death  of  President  Lincoln 

It  is  now  nearly  forty-four  years  since  Abraham 
Lincoln  died.  There  have  been  great  changes  in  our 
country  during  that  time.  The  South  now  vindicates 
Lincoln,  and  realizes  that  he  was  their  friend.  Peace 
and  good  will  now  prevail  between  the  North  and  the 
South,  cemented  by  the  blood  of  Lincoln. 

Joseph  H.  Bradley,  chaplain  National  Soldiers'  Home 
of  Virginia,  in  a  communication  to  the  Ram's  Horn, 
quotes  from  a  letter  written  by  General  William  G. 
Webb,  a  Christian  ex-Confederate: 

"Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  great  and  good  man,  and  was 
raised  up  by  God  to  preserve  this  nation  as  one  and  indi- 
visible, and  to  give  freedom  to  the  slaves.  As  a  Confed- 
erate, I  could  not  see  it;  and  after  our  defeat  it  took  me 
some  time  to  grasp  it;  but  it  became  very  plain  to  me  after 
a  while.  God  has  a  great  work  for  this  nation  to  do,  and 
Mr.  Lincoln  was,  like  Washington,  one  of  his  instruments 
to  prepare  the  people  for  this  mission  which  the  United 
States  is  to  accomplish  toward  the  enlightenment,  freedom, 
and  Christianization  of  the  world." 

I  heard  a  lecture  on  Abraham  Lincoln  at  Corydon, 
Indiana,  March  17,  1899,  by  Henry  Watterson,  the 
talented  editor  of  the  Louisville  Courier- Journal  and 
and  ex-Confederate,  in  which  he  said,  "If  Lincoln  was 
not  inspired  of  God,  then  there  is  no  such  thing  on  earth 
as  special  providence  or  the  interposition  of  divine  power 
in  the  affairs  of  men." 

In  1903,  the  State  of  Mississippi,  the  second  State  to 
pass  an  ordinance  of  secession,  and  the  home  of  Jeffer- 
son Davis,  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
requested  Honorable  Eobert  T.  Lincoln  to  furnish  a 
picture  of  his  father  to  hang  in  the  new  capitol  building 
at  Jackson.    The  request  was  as  follows : 

97 


Footprints  of  Ahraliam  Lincoln 

"We  of  the  South  now  realize  the  greatness  and  the  good- 
ness of  the  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  would  honor 
his  memory.  Nothing  that  we  could  do  would  add  to  his 
fame.  We  can,  however,  show  our  respect  and  love  for 
him.  Permit  me,  therefore,  in  the  name  of  the  State,  to 
invite  you  to  place  a  portrait  of  President  Lincoln  in  the 
new  capitol  of  Mississippi;  that  it  may  symbolize  his  love 
for  his  country,  his  devotion  to  duty,  and  his  heartfelt 
sympathy  for  the  Southern  people." 

Abraham  Lincoln  loved  the  South.  He  was  Southern 
born.  At  his  last  cahinet  meeting,  on  the  date  of  his 
death,  he  advised  that  forbearance,  clemency,  and  char- 
ity should  be  the  controlling  principles  in  dealing  with 
difficult  problems  awaiting  practical  solution. 

What  a  rich  inlieritance  we  have  in  the  example  and 
deeds,  the  pen  and  voice  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  What 
an  inspiration  his  noble  life  should  be  to  struggling 
young  men  who  trace  the  footsteps  in  his  eventful  liis- 
tory,  and  learn  the  motives  that  prompted  him  in  all  his 
actions. 

Not  long  since  I  received  a  communication  from  a 
stranger,  a  poor  orphan  boy  in  far-away  Turkey.  He 
lives  in  Konia,  the  ancient  Iconium,  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament.  He  says :  "I  have  read  in  some  books 
about  Lincoln.  I  love  and  admire  him  as  one  of  the 
greatest  men  that  ever  have  been  lived  on  earth."  His 
appeal  for  an  opportunity  to  know  more  about  Lincoln 
was  pathetic. 

Many  years  ago  a  young  man  said : 

"I  was  only  a  child  when  Abraham  Lincoln  died,  but  I 
cannot  think  of  his  death  without  feeling  the  same  pain 
I  would  feel  if  it  had  been  my  father.  I  never  saw  him, 
and  yet  it  seems  that  I  knew  him  and  loved  him  person- 
ally. I  am  sure  I  am  a  better  man  because  Lincoln  lived. 
His  straightforward,  simple,  truthful  life  puts  all  meaner 
lives  to  shame." 

98 


Death  of  President  Lincoln 

0.  H.  Oldroyd,  editor  of  the  "Lincoln  Memorial 
Album,"  says: 

"His  fame  is  world-wide  and  stands  in  history  more 
lasting  tlian  a  monument  of  brass.  His  words  will  con- 
tinue to  sound  through  the  ages  as  long  as  the  flowers  shall 
bloom  or  the  waters  flow." 

Another  writer  says : 

"We  hear  Lincoln's  words  in  every  schoolhouse  and  col- 
lege, in  every  cabin,  and  at  every  public  meeting.  We  read 
them  in  every  newspaper,  school-book,  and  magazine,  and 
they  are  all  in  favor  of  right,  liberty,  and  truth,  and  of 
honesty  and  reverence  for  Grod.  His  words,  some  of  them 
as  familiar  as  the  Bible,  are  on  the  tongues  of  the  people, 
shaping  the  national  character." 

Bishop  Newman  said: 

"There  is  no  name  more  deserving  of  imperishable  fame 
than  Abraham  Lincoln.  He  is  embalmed  in  song,  recorded 
in  history,  eulogized  in  panegyric,  cast  in  bronze,  sculptured 
in  marble,  painted  on  canvas,  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
his  countrymen,  and  lives  in  the  memories  of  mankind." 


99 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 
Unpublished  Official  Documents 

A  Discovery — Documents  of  Historic  Value — Lincoln  Owned  Land 
in  Iowa — Copy  of  Letters  Patent  from  United  States,  under 
James  Buchanan,  to  Abraham  Lincoln,  in  1860 — Copy  of  Deed 
Executed  by  Honorable  Robert  T.  Lincoln  and  Wife  in  1892 — 
Other  Transfers — The  l*reseut   Owner. 

A  FEW  months  ago  I  learned  through  a  newspaper 
that  Abraham  Lincoln,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  owned 
land  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  by  virtue  of  his  having  served 
in  the  Black  H,awk  War  of  1833.  He  was  given  a  land 
script,  good  for  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which 
he  located  in  what  is  now  Crawford  County,  Iowa. 
Having  never  heard  of  tliis  before,  I  went  to  Denison, 
the  county-seat,  and,  through  the  law  and  abstract  office 
of  Shaw,  Sims  &  Ivuelmle,  obtained  the  information 
where  the  records  could  be  found  in  the  county  record- 
er's office.  The  above-named  Shaw  is  the  Honorable 
Leslie  M.  Shaw,  ex-Governor  of  Iowa  and  ex-Secre- 
tary of  the  L^nited  States  Treasury  under  President 
Roosevelt. 

Through  the  kindness  of  the  county  recorder,  W.  E. 
Terry,  I  was  allowed  to  copy  the  records  in  the  case. 
Probably  Abraham  Lincoln  never  saw  the  land,  but 
because  of  their  historical  value  the  records  are  here 
given.  The  first  is  the  letters-patent  from  the  United 
States  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  Eecord  D,  page  18.  Orig- 
inal Entry,  page  125. 

100 


TJnpuhlislied  Official  Documents 

"The  United  States  of  America. 

'To  All  Whom  These  Presents  Shall  Come,  Greeting: 

"Whekeas,  In  pursuance  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  approved 
March  3,  1855,  entitled  An  Act,  in  addition  to  certain  Acts, 
Granting  Bounty  Land  to  certain  officers  and  soldiers  who 
have  been  engaged  in  the  military  service  of  the  United 
States,  There  has  been  deposited  in  the  General  Land  Office, 
Warrant  No.  68645,  for  120  acres  of  land  in  favor  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  Captain  Illinois  Militia,  Black  Hawk  War, 
with  evidence  that  the  same  has  been  duly  located  upon  the 
east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter,  and  northwest  quarter 
of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  eighteen,  in  Township 
eighty-four,  north  of  Range  thirty-nine  west,  in  the  district 
of  Lands  subject  to  sale  at  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa,  containing 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  according  to  the  official  plat 
of  the  survey  of  the  said  land  returned  to  the  General  Land 
Office  by  the  Surveyor  General,  the  said  tract  having  been 
located  by  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln. 

"Know  ye.  That  there  is,  therefore,  granted  by  the  United 
States  unto  the  said  Abraham  Lincoln,  heirs,  and  assigns 
forever. 

"In  Testimony,  whereof,  I,  James  Buchanan,  President  of 
the  United  States  of  America,  have  caused  these  Letters  to 
be  made  Patent,  and  the  seal  of  the  General  Land  Office  to 
be  hereto  affixed. 
"[Seal.] 

"Given  under  my  hand,  at  the  City  of  Washington,  the 
tenth  day  of  September,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  One  Thou- 
sand Eight  Hundred  and  Sixty,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  the  Eighty-fifth. 

"By  the  President:  James  Buchanan. 

"By  J.  B.  Leonard,  Sec. 

"G.  W.  Granger,  Recorder  of  the  General  Land  Office. 

"Recorded  vol.  468,  page  53." 

The  following  copy  of  the  warranty  deed  from  Eobert 
T.  Lincoln  and  wife  to  Henry  Edwards  is  recorded  in 
Deed  Eecord  13,  page  208.  Eobert.  T.  Lincoln  at  this 
time  was  minister  from  the  United   States  to  Great 

101 


Footprints  of  Ahraham  Lincoln 

Britain,  under  President  Benjamin  Harrison's  admin- 
istration : 

"Warraxty  Deed. 

"Filed  April  26,  A.  D.  1892,  at  2:  10  p.m.,  W.  W.  Cushman, 
Recorder. 
''Enotv  All  Men  hy  These  Presents: 

"That  we,  Robert  T.  Lincoln  and  Mary  H.  Lincoln,  his 
wife,  of  Cook  County,  and  State  of  Illinois,  in  considera- 
tion of  the  sum  of  Thirteen  Hundred  Dollars  ($1,300)  to 
us  in  hand  paid  by  Henry  Edwards,  of  Crawford  County, 
and  State  of  Iowa,  do  hereby  sell  and  convey  unto  the  said 
Henry  Edwards  the  following  described  premises,  situated 
in  the  County  of  CraAvford,  and  State  of  Iowa,  to-wit: 

"The  east  half  of  the  northeast  quarter,  and  the  north- 
west quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  eighteen 
(18)  in  Township  eighty-four  (84),  north  of  Range  thirty- 
nine  (39),  west  of  the  Principal  Meridian. 

"And  we  covenant  with  the  said  Henry  Edwards  that  we 
hold  said  premises  by  good  and  perfect  title,  that  we  have 
good  right  and  lawful  authority  to  sell  and  convey  the 
same,  that  they  are  free  and  clear  of  all  liens  and  all 
encumbrances,  whatsoever,  excepting  the  taxes  levied,  or 
to  be  levied,  for  the  year  1892,  and  excepting  also  a  lease 
of  said  land  expiring  on  or  about  the  fourth  day  of  May, 
A.  D.  1894,  and  we  covenant  to  warrant  and  defend  the  title 
to  said  premises  against  the  lawful  claims  of  all  persons, 
whomsoever,  excepting  as  against  the  said  taxes,  and  the 
said  lease,  the  obligation  and  discharge  of  both  of  which 
are  hereby  assumed  by  the  said  Henry  Edwards. 

"The  said  Robert  T.  Lincoln  hereby  declares  that  his 
title  to  said  land  is  wholly  by  descent,  and  derived  as 
follows,  namely: 

"That  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  patentee  of  said  land,  died 
on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1865,  intestate,  leaving  heirs  sur- 
viving, his  widow,  Mary  Lincoln,  and  his  two  sons,  Robert  T. 
Lincoln  and  Thomas  Lincoln,  and  no  other  heirs;  that  said 
Thomas  Lincoln  died  on  the  15th  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1871, 
in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  age,  intestate,  and  unmarried, 
leaving  him  surviving  as  his  only  heirs  his  mother,  said 

102 


TJnpuhlislicd  Official  Documents 

Mary  Lincoln,  and  his  brother,  said  Robert  T.  Lincoln; 
that  said  Mary  Lincoln  died  on  the  16th  day  of  July,  A.  D. 
1882,  intestate,  and  a  widow,  leaving  her  surviving  as  her 
sole  heir,  said  Robert  T.  Lincoln;  and  that  the  estate  of 
said  Abraham  Lincoln,  Thomas  Lincoln,  and  Mary  Lincoln 
were  successively  duly  administered  according  to  law  in  the 
county  court  of  Sangamon  County,  in  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  that  all  claims  against  them  were  duly  paid  and 
discharged. 

"Signed  the  twenty-second  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1892. 

"Robert  T.  Lincoln. 

"Mary  H.  Lincoln. 

"United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

"Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America  at  Loudon  on 
this  22d  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1892,  before  me  Larz  Anderson, 
a  secretary  of  the  Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America 
at  London,  aforesaid,  came  Robert  T.  Lincoln  and  Mary  H. 
Lincoln,  his  wife,  personally  to  me  known  to  be  the  iden- 
tical persons  whose  names  are  afSxed  to  the  above  instru- 
ment as  grantors  thereof,  and  acknowledged  the  execution 
of  the  same  to  be  their  voluntary  act  and  deed  for  the 
purpose  therein  expressed. 

"Witness  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  said  Legation  the  day 
and  year  last  above  v/ritten. 

"The  Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America  to  Great 
Britain.  Larz  Anderson, 

"Secretary  of  Legation." 

On  the  20tli  of  April,  1892,  the  above-named  Henry 
Edwards  sold  the  land  to  Enoch  T.  Cochran,  considera- 
tion $1,500.  Recorded  May  2,  1892,  Deed  Book  12, 
page  624. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  1892,  Enoch  T.  Cochran  sold 
the  land  to  the  present  owner,  Peter  F.  Jepsen,  consid- 
eration $1,925.  Recorded  October  24,  1892,  Deed  Book 
15,  page  135. 

I  copied  the  foregoing  records  in  the  recorder's  office, 
in  Dennison,  Crawford  County,  Iowa,  in  the  afternoon 

103 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

of  May  22,  1908.  Mr.  Jepsen,  the  present  owner  of  the 
land,  is  a  retired  German  farmer  and  resides  in  Deni- 
son.  I  called  at  his  home  after  I  had  copied  the  rec- 
ords. He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1867,  and  is 
prond  of  the  fact  that  he  is  the  owner  of  the  land  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  owned.  The  land  joins  another  farm 
which  Mr.  Jepsen  owns,  where  he  formerly  resided,  in 
Goodrich  Township,  about  seven  miles  northwest  of 
Denison.  The  present  veteran  county  surveyor,  Moses 
Henry,  told  me  that  he  surveyed  the  land  Lincoln 
owned,  and  that  it  is  now  valued  at  one  hundred  dollars 
per  acre. 


104 


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HOUSE  IN  WHICH  LINCOLN  DIED 


LINCOLN'S  MILL 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Celebration  of  the  Centennial  Anniversary  of 
Lincoln's  Birth 

Preparations — General  Obseryance — rresident  Roosevelt  Lays  Cor- 
nerstone of  Lincoln  Museum  at  Lincoln's  Birthplace — Extracts 
from  Addresses  at  Various  Places — Closing  Tribute. 

Never,  perhaps,  in  the  history  of  mankind  has  such 
general  recognition  been  given  to  the  anniversary  of 
any  man's  birth  as  was  given  to  the  one  himdredth 
anniversary  of  Abraham  Lincoln's  birth  on  Friday, 
February  12,  1909.  For  weeks  in  advance  the  news- 
papers, both  religious  and  secular,  and  the  magazines 
were  decorated  with  his  pictures,  and  other  pictures 
illustrating  many  scenes  in  his  life.  The  recollections 
of  personal  friends  and  acquaintances,  war  incidents, 
stories,  anecdotes,  and  his  personal  traits  were  placed 
on  record,  with  various  announcements  and  programs 
for  the  coming  anniversary,  showed  the  great  interest 
attached  to  his  name  and  his  history. 

The  day  was  made  a  national  holiday  by  Congress 
and  the  proclamation  of  the  President,  supplemented  by 
legislatures  and  governors  of  many  States.  The  event 
was  celebrated,  almost  without  exception,  by  all  the 
common  schools,  colleges,  and  universities  throughout 
the  nation.  Churches,  Grand  Army  posts.  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  the  various  temperance  organi- 
zations, clubs,  trades  unions,  and  almost  every  form  of 
organized  bodies  celebrated  the  day.  Courts  and  legis- 
latures adjourned  and  joined  in  the  general  anniversary 

105 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

exercises,  or  held  separate  exercises.  The  wheels  of  the 
general  Government  at  Washington,  D.  C,  stopped  to 
recognize  the  great  memorial  day.  Business  in  many 
places  was  practically  suspended  in  honor  of  the  day. 
In  every  community,  town,  and  city  the  praises  of 
Lincoln  were  heard. 

Orations  delivered  by  great  and  undistinguished  men 
and  women,  pertaining  to  many  phases  of  Lincoln's 
life  and  character,  were  given.  Prayers,  religious  and 
patriotic  songs  were  heard.  Pictures,  flowers,  flags, 
parades,  and  banquets  were  greatly  in  evidence.  The 
Gettysburg  address,  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
the  second  inaugural  address,  Lincoln's  favorite  poem, 
"Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud?"  with 
many  other  selections,  were  recited  and  read. 

The  Southern  people,  as  well  as  the  Northern,  joined 
in  the  general  exercises  of  the  day.  The  colored  people 
were  enthusiastic  in  showing  their  appreciation  of  what 
Mr.  Lincoln  had  done  for  their  race.  In  many  cities 
in  foreign  countries,  including  London,  Berlin,  Hono- 
lulu, and  Rome,  the  anniversary  was  observed. 

The  center  of  attraction  was  the  celebration  at  Lin- 
coln's birthplace,  on  the  farm  tliree  miles  from  Hodgen- 
ville,  Larue  County,  Kentucky.  A  large  tent  had  been 
erected  for  the  occasion,  with  a  platform  inside  for  the 
speakers.  In  front  of  the  platform  was  placed  a  rebuilt 
little  cabin,  sixteen  feet  square,  which  had  itinerated  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  and  exhibited  as  the  cabin 
in  which  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born.  The  little  cabin, 
set  in  flowers  contributed  by  the  school  children  of 
Kentucky,  and  decorated  with  the  national  colors,  very 
fitly  illustrated  the  kind  of  a  cabin  in  wliich  the  great 
emancipator  was  born.     When  Lincoln  was  born  in  a 

106 


Centennial  Anniversary  of  Lincoln's  Birth 


log  cabin  on  that  spot,  no  one  could  imagine  that  a 
future  President  was  bom  there,  and  that  a  hundred 
years  later  another  President  would  stand  on  the  same 
spot  to  assist  in  celebrating  his  birth. 

Five  extra  trains  came  from  Louisville  to  Hodgen- 
ville,  bearing  persons  from  various  points  in  the  United 
States.  These  were  conveyed  by  carriages  to  the  place 
of  celebration.  The  day  there  was  rainy,  but  the  foreign 
and  local  attendance  was  estimated  at  eight  thousand. 
Among  the  distinguished  persons  present  were  President 
Roosevelt,  Mrs.  Roosevelt,  and  daughter.  Miss  Ethel; 
Mr.  Loeb,  the  President's  private  secretary;  Ex-Gover- 
nor Joseph  Folk,  of  Missouri,  president  of  the  Lincoln 
Fa.rm  Association;  Governor  A.  E.  Willson,  of  Ken- 
tucky ;  General  James  G.  Wilson,  and  Luke  E.  Wright, 
Secretary  of  War, 

There  were  various  committees,  guards  and  police. 
Good  order  prevailed.  All  lines  of  the  North  and  the 
South  were  blotted  out  in  representation,  men  of  botb 
sections  taking  part  in  the  exercises.  Twenty-six  negro 
citizens,  appointed  by  Governor  Willson,  as  a  reception 
committee,  represented  their  race. 

After  prayer,  Ex-Governor  Fo]k,  of  Missouri,  presi- 
dent of  tbe  Lincoln  Farm  x4ssociation,  said,  in  part : 

"Here,  on  this  farm,  one  hundred  years  ago  to-day,  was 
"born  the  strongest,  strangest,  gentlest  character  the  repub- 
lic has  ever  known.  His  work  was  destined  to  have  a  more 
far-reaching  influence  than  any  that  went  before  him. 
TJntil  recently  this  spot  which  should  he  hallowed  by  every 
American,  was  unnoticed  and  abandoned.  Inspired  by  the 
idea  that  due  regard  for  the  apostle  of  human  liberty  who 
sprang  from  this  soil  demanded  the  preservation  of  his 
birthplace,  a  few  patriotic  men  organized  the  Lincoln  Farm 
Association,  to  purchase  this  property  and  to  erect  upon  it 

107 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

a  memorial  to  that  simple,  but  sublime  life  that  here  came 
Into  the  world.  This  association  is  purely  patriotic  in  its 
purposes,  and  the  movement  has  met  with  a  ready  response 
from  every  section  of  the  nation.  In  revering  the  name  of 
Lincoln,  there  is  now  no  North  or  South,  or  East  or 
West.  There  is  but  one  heart  in  all,  and  that  the  heart  of 
patriotic  Am.erica.  So  the  memorial  to  be  erected  here,  by 
South  as  v/ell  as  North,  will  not  only  be  in  memory  of 
Lincoln,  but  it  will  be  a  testimony  that  the  fires  of  hatred 
kindled  by  the  fierce  civil  conflict  of  nearly  half  a  century 
ago,  are  dead,  and  from  the  ashes  has  arisen  the  red  rose 
of  patriotism  to  a  common  country  and  loyalty  to  a  common 
flag." 

President  Roosevelt,  in  behalf  of  the  nation,  said,  in 
part : 

"He  lived  in  days  that  were  great  and  terrible,  when 
brother  fought  against  brother  for  what  each  sincerely 
deemed  to  be  the  right.  In  a  contest  so  grim  the  strong 
men  who  alone  can  carry  it  through  are  rarely  able  to  do 
justice  to  the  deep  convictions  of  those  with  whom  they 
grapple  in  mortal  strife.  At  such  times  men  see  through 
a  glass  darkly;  to  only  the  rarest  and  loftiest  spirits  is 
vouchsafed  that  clear  vision  which  gradually  comes  to  all, 
even  to  the  lesser,  as  the  struggle  fades  into  distance,  and 
wounds  are  forgotten,  and  peace  creeps  back  to  the  hearts 
that  were  hurt.  But  to  Lincoln  was  given  this  supreme 
vision.  He  did  not  hate  the  man  from  whom  he  differed. 
Weakness  was  as  foreign  as  wickedness  to  his  strong,  gentle 
nature;  but  his  courage  was  of  a  quality  so  high  that  it 
needed  no  bolstering  of  dark  passion.  He  saw  clearly  that 
the  same  high  qualities,  the  same  courage  and  willingness 
for  self-sacrifice,  and  devotion  to  the  right  as  it  was  given 
them  to  see  the  right,  belonged  both  to  the  men  of  the 
North  and  to  the  men  of  the  South.  As  the  years  ro'l  by, 
and  as  all  of  us,  wherever  we  dwell,  grow  to  feel  an  equal 
pride  in  the  valor  and  self-devotion  alike  of  the  men  who 
wore  the  blue  and  the  men  who  wore  the  gray,  so  this 
whole  nation  will  grow  to  feel  a  peculiar  sense  of  pride  in 
the  man  whose  blood  was  shed  for  the  union  of  his  people, 

108 


Centennial  Anniversary  of  Lincoln's  Birth 

and  for  the  freedom  of  a  race.  The  lover  of  his  country 
and  of  all  mankind;  the  mightiest  of  the  mighty  men  who 
mastered  the  mighty  days,  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Governor  Willson,  in  behalf  of  Kentucky,  for  her 
greatest  son,  said,  in  part: 

"We  have  met  here  on  this  farm  where  he  was  born,  in 
memory  cf  Abraham  Lincoln,  to  know  for  ourselves  and  to 
prove  to  the  world,  by  a  record  made  to  endure,  and  deep 
graven  on  these  acres,  that  the  love  of  country  and  of  its 
nobly  useful  citizens  are  not  dreams,  nor  idle  words,  but 
indeed  living,  stirring,  and  breathing  feelings.  Abraham 
Lincoln  Is  claimed  by  all  humanity  and  all  time  as  the  type 
of  the  race  best  showing  forth  the  best  in  all  men  in  all 
conditions  of  life. 

"Here  are  met  to-day,  with  equal  zeal  to  do  him  honor, 
soldiers  of  the  war  for  and  against  the  Union,  heroes  of  the 
Union  and  the  Confederacy,  Americans  all,  no  one  less 
pledged  than  the  other,  not  only  by  the  bond  of  the  cove- 
nant of  our  law,  but  alike  by  the  dearest  feelings  of  his 
heart  and  fervor  of  his  blood,  to  our  united  country  and  its 
beautiful  flag." 

General  James  G.  Wilson,  of  New  York,  who  was  in 
the  Union  Array,  spoke  fitting  words  in  behalf  of  the 
Union,  while  General  Luke  E.  Wright,  who  w^as  in  the 
Confederate  Army,  now  Secretary  of  War,  spoke  fitting 
Avords  in  behalf  of  the  Confederacy. 

President  Roosevelt  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  Lin- 
coln Museum,  which  is  to  be  built  of  limestone  and 
white  marble.  He  spread  white  cement  with  a  silver 
trowel  where  the  stone  was  to  set.  The  stone,  weigliing 
three  thousand  pounds,  was  placed  in  position  with  a 
derrick.  A  number  of  articles  were  deposited  in  a  leaden 
box  placed  in  the  stone  before  it  was  set,  among  which 
was  the  life  of  Lincoln  wa-itten  by  President  Roosevelt 
find  the  speeches  delivered  on  the  occasion. 

109 


Footprints  of  Abraham  Lincoln 

In  connection  with  the  depositor}^  of  articles,  an  aged 
negro,  Isaac  T.  Montgomery,  of  Mississippi,  said  to 
have  been  at  one  time  a  slave  of  Jefferson  Davis,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  was  assigned  the 
appropriate  honor  of  depositing  in  the  box  a  copy  of 
President  Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation.  In 
doing  this  he  made  a  brief  speech,  in  which  he  referred 
to  himself  "as  one  of  the  former  millions  of  slaves  to 
whom  Lincoln  gave  freedom,  and  the  representative  of 
10,000,000  grateful  negro  citizens." 

The  cabin  in  which  it  is  alleged  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  bom  will  be  kept  in  the  memorial  building.  It  is 
expected  that  the  building  will  be  dedicated  in  April, 
by  William  H.  Taft,  who  will  be  inaugurated  President 
of  the  United  States,  March  4,  1909. 

The  spot  where  Abraham  Lincoln  was  born  will,  for 
coming  ages,  be  the  most  sacred  shrine  in  all  this  great 
countr}',  whose  government  he  died  to  save. 

At  Lincoln  City,  Spencer  County,  Indiana,  where  the 
Lincolns  lived  fourteen  years  after  moving  from  Ken- 
tucky, and  before  moving  to  Illinois,  and  where  Abra- 
ham's mother  lies  buried,  exercises  were  held.  The 
school  children  of  Evansville,  Indiana,  raised  money  to 
purchase  a  flag,  and  the  school  children  of  Indianapolis 
sent  a  wreath  of  flowers,  both  of  wliich  were  placed  on 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  grave.  A  procession  of  one  hundred 
school  children  of  Lincoln  City,  headed  by  Principal 
Curtis  Cox  and  the  other  teachers,  marched  to  the  grave, 
where  the  exercises  were  held. 

At  Springfield,  Illinois,  Lincoln's  old  home,  and 
where  his  body  rests  in  the  great  monument  erected  to 
his  memory,  imposing  exercises  were  held  in  various 
places  well  worthy  of  the  man.    Mr.  Lincoln  was  instru- 

110 


Centennial  Anniversary  of  Lincoln's  Birth 

mental  in  having  the  State  capital  moved  from  Vandalia 
to  Springfield.  Ambassador  Jusserand  of  France,  Sena- 
tor Dolliver  of  Iowa,  Ambassador  Br3'ce  of  England, 
and  William  J.  Bryan  were  among  the  distinguished 
visitors,  and  who  delivered  addresses.  A  most  impress- 
ive feature  of  the  occasion  was  the  scene  at  Lincoln's 
tomb,  when  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  son  of  the  martja^ed 
President,  stood  beside  the  sarcophagus  in  which  the 
body  of  liis  great  father  rests.  Here  his  mother,  broth- 
ers, and  a  son  named  Abraham  Lincoln  are  also  en- 
tombed. He  stood  in  silent  meditation  with  tear- 
dimmed  eyes,  with  Ambassadors  Jusserand,  Bryce, 
Senator  Dolliver,  W.  J.  Bryan,  aud  many  other  distin- 
guished persons  gathered  about.  In  his  speech,  Ambas- 
sador Bryce  said,  in  part : 

"Of  the  personal  impression  he  made  on  those  who  knew 
him,  you  will  hear  from  some  of  the  few  yet  living  who 
can  recollect  him.  All  I  can  contribute  is  a  reminiscence 
of  what  reached  us  in  England.  I  was  an  undergraduate 
student  in  the  University  of  Oxford  when  the  Civil  War 
broke  out.  Well  do  I  remember  the  surprise  when  the 
Republican  National  Convention  nominated  him  as  a  candi- 
date for  the  presidency,  for  it  had  been  expected  that  the 
choice  would  fall  upon  William  H.  Seward.  I  recollect 
how  it  slowly  dawned  upon  Europeans  in  1862  and  1863 
that  the  President  could  be  no  ordinary  man,  because  he 
never  seemed  cast  down  by  the  reverses  which  befell  his 
arms,  because  he  never  let  himself  be  hurried  into  premature 
action,  nor  feared  to  take  so  bold  a  step  as  the  Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation  was  when  he  saw  that  the  time  had 
arrived.  And,  above  all,  I  remember  the  shock  of  awe  and 
grief  which  thrilled  all  Britain  when  the  news  came  that 
he  had  perished  by  the  bullet  of  an  assassin.  .  .  . 

"To  you,  men  of  Ilinois,  Lincoln  is  the  most  famous  and 
worthy  of  all  those  who  have  adorned  your  commonwealth. 
To  you,  citizens  of  the  United  States,  he  is  the  President 

111 


Footprints  of  AhraJiam  Lincoln 

who  carried  you  through  a  terrible  conflict  and  saved  the 
Union.  To  us  in  England  he  is  one  of  the  heroes  of  the 
race  whence  you  and  we  sprung.  We  honor  his  memory 
as  you  do;  and  it  is  fitting  that  one  who  is  privileged  here 
to  represent  the  land  from  which  his  forefathers  came 
should  bring  on  behalf  of  England  a  tribute  of  admiration 
for  him  and  of  thankfulness  to  the  Providence  v/hich  gave 
him  to  you  in  your  hour  of  need. 

"Great  men  are  the  noblest  possession  of  a  nation,  and 
are  potent  forces  in  the  molding  of  national  character. 
Their  influence  lives  after  them,  and  if  they  be  good  as 
well  as  great,  they  remain  as  beacons  lighting  the  course 
of  all  who  follow  them.  They  set  for  succeeding  genera- 
tions the  standards  of  public  life.  They  stir  the  spirit  and 
rouse  the  energy  of  the  youth  who  seek  to  emulate  their 
virtues  in  the  service  of  the  country." 

At  Washington  City  all  Government  and  leading 
business  houses  were  closed.  The  Senate  adjonrned 
nntil  Monday,  but  in  the  House,  Lincoln's  famous 
Gettysburg  speech  was  read  by  Eej^resentative  Boutell, 
of  Illinois.  Appropriate  exercises  were  held  at  Howard 
University,  where  a  large  negro  student  body  witnessed 
the  unveiling  of  a  large  painting  of  the  "Underground 
Eailroad."  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Garfield  and  other 
speakers  were  on  the  program. 

In  Boston,  the  city  sometimes  called  the  literary  "hub 
of  the  universe,"  Senator  Lodge  gave  an  address  on  the 
life  and  work  of  Mr.  Lincoln  before  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature.  At  a  meeting  held  in  the  evening  in  Sym- 
phony Hall,  John  D.  Long,  former  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  gave  an  address,  and  Julia  Ward  Howe,  author 
of  the  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic,"  read  a  poem  she 
had  written  for  the  occasion,  depicting  Lincoln's  rise 
from  obscurity  to  the  leader  of  the  nation. 

112 


Centennial  Anniversary  of  Lincoln's  Birth 


In  Chicago,  the  metropolis  of  Lincoln's  adopted  State, 
fifty  public  meetings  were  held  in  his  honor.  The  city 
was  fairly  buried  beneath  flags,  buntings,  and  pictures 
of  Lincoln.  Show-windows  were  filled  with  war  relics 
and  Lincoln  mementoes.  Streets  were  crowded  with 
marchers  and  military  bands.  Standing  bareheaded  in 
Lincoln  Park,  in  sight  of  the  Lincoln  Statue,  a  group 
of  Civil  War  veterans  fired  a  presidential  salute.  Dexter 
Pavilion,  at  night,  was  crowded,  while  a  chorus  of  one 
thousand  voices  sang  patriotic  songs. 

At  Gettysburg,  where  Lincoln  delivered  his  classic 
address  dedicating  the  national  cemetery,  Xovember  19, 
1863,  the  day  was  duly  observed.  The  principal  exer- 
cises were  held  on  the  campus  of  Gettysburg  College, 
near  Seminary  Eidge,  where,  much  of  the  first  and 
second  days'  fighting  occurred  during  the  great  battle. 
Lincoln's  Gettysburg  address  was  read  by  Judge  Sanmcl 
McSwope. 

At  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania,  Vice-President  Fair- 
banks said,  in  part : 

"Vrno,  among  all  the  men  of  his  day,  has  produced  utter- 
ances so  classic  and  lofty  and  Vvhich  will  survive  so  long 
as  many  of  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Lincoln?  It  is  impossible 
to  think  that  schools,  colleges,  or  universities  could  have 
increased  the  intellectual  or  moral  nature  of  Lincoln.  He 
was  the  marvelous  product  of  the  great  school  of  nature. 
He  kept  close  to  nature's  heart,  close  to  the  people,  close  to 
the  soul.  .  .  .  His  life  was  spent  in  the  field  of  conflict. 
In  his  youth  he  struggled  with  nature.  At  the  bar  he  con- 
tended for  the  rights  of  his  clients.  In  the  wider  field  of 
politics  he  fought  with  uncommon  power  to  overthrow  the 
wrong  and  enthrone  the  right.  He  fought  not  for  the  love 
of  contest,  but  for  the  love  of  truth.  By  nature  he  was  a 
man  of  peace.  He  did  not  like  to  raise  his  hand  against 
his  fellow-man.     He  instinctively  loved  justice,  right,  and 

113 


Footprints  of  Ahraham  Lincoln 

liberty.  His  soul  revolted  at  the  thouglit  of  injustice  and 
wrong.  His  conscience  impelled  him  to  uphold  the  right 
v.-herever  it  was  denied  his  fellow-man.  He  could  not  do 
otherwise." 

In  jSTew  York  City  the  celebration  was  the  most  hearty 
and  widespread  of  its  kind  ever  seen  there.  The  city's 
official  celebration  was  held  in  Cooper  Union,  in  the  hall 
in  which  Lincoln  made  his  great  speech  called  the 
"Cooper  Union  Speech,"  delivered  in  18G0.  Addresses 
were  delivered  by  Joseph  H.  Choate  and  Eev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott.  At  a  great  club  meeting,  Booker  T.  Washington 
delivered  an  address,  and  referred  to  himself  as  "one 
whom  Lincoln  found  a  piece  of  property  and  made  into 
an  American  citizen." 

In  closing  this  little  volume  as  an  humble  tribute  to 
the  memorv'  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  I  desire  to  say  that, 
while  Mr.  Lincoln  possessed  so  many  excellent  traits  of 
character,  the  most  significant  and  worthy  one  was  his 
constant  anxiet}^,  as  he  expressed  it,  to  know  and  do 
the  will  of  God.  This,  in  the  providence  of  God,  is 
v.'hat  made  him  truly  great. 


114 


